A Faraway Land 1: The Spell
by Aurora Mandeville
Summary: After nine years, MK gets to see her son again, only to be pulled into an adventure she'd never imagined, or believed. Crossover of several CGI films, all films belong to their respective owners (complete list - greatbigfour.tumblr com/movie-characters), based on Once Upon a Time. (Pt 2 - The Search, coming soon) Next - /s/12023249/1/A-Faraway-Land-2-The-Search
1. Prologue

"Are you sure you want to do this, Merida?" Hiccup asked as he led his wife through the dungeons.

Merida nodded before glancing at her husband, "For the final time, yes! We're already almost there, what's the point of asking me now?"

Hiccup sighed, "Because I was kind of hoping to change your mind." Merida rolled her eyes as a guard greeted them, taking the torch from Hiccup. "Alright, Jack Frost, my wife is here to speak to you, you'd better answer her questions, or else," growled Hiccup. A pale being moved to the bars, his ice blue eyes penetrating down to their very souls.

A grin spread across his face, "Wonderful to see you, Princess Merida. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I want to know what Mavis is planning and how we can stop it."

"My, my, you know that I need something in return."

"What?"

"The name of your child."

Merida's hand went instinctively to her round tummy, "Fine, it's a deal."

"Good, Mavis is making a spell that will transport us all to another world, a world without magic. Part of the spell will erase all of our memories of this world, and might make some of us change our names." Hiccup and Merida glanced at each other with worry.

"So how do we stop it?"

Jack shrugged, "You can't stop it, but … there is a way to reverse it."

"How?"

Jack pointed at the round belly, "That child is our only hope. You must send her away to Earth to spare her from the spell, she will return to us on her twenty-sixth birthday. That is when Mavis' spell shall begin to weaken, it won't be long after that that the spell will be broken."

Merida breathed, "Thank you." She turned around to walk away, there was hope after all, even if it meant not being able to watch her little one grow up.

"Wait, we had a deal! You promised to give me the name of your child!"

Merida turned back around with a little smile on her face, "Mary Katherine."


	2. Mary Katherine

"So, MK, what do you do?" The brunette took a sip from his glass, watching his date a bit intently.

MK shrugged, "It's kind of hard to describe, Peter."

"Well, see if you can try."

"I don't know if your wife would like it," she said as she casually took a sip of her drink, her eyes never leaving his face. Peter's eyes grew big with a sudden realization as he quickly rose and bolted from the table. MK casually placed her drink down before walking briskly after him. In his rush to get to his car, he stumbled several times, giving MK the chance to catch up to him, right as he was trying to get into his car. She slammed the door into him, stunning him, before opening it and dragging him out, cuffing him. "Peter Black, you are under arrest for attempted murder, and faking your wife's signature on large bills."

An hour later, an exhausted MK entered into her apartment and set a cupcake down on her counter, a skinny candle sticking out of the top. She rummaged through a drawer, finding a lighter and lit the candle.

"Here's to another year, make a wish," she sighed, closed her eyes and blew out the candle. She opened her eyes and let out another sigh as she picked out the candle. A knock at her door made her pause. She placed the candle on the counter and strode to the door, opening it to reveal a boy of about ten years old stood there, smiling at her.

"Hi, are you Mary Katherine Bomba?"

"Uh, yeah? How do you know my name?"

"I'm your son, Jamie," smiled the brunette. MK backed up, her mouth opening in surprise.

"M-my son? How can you be sure? It's been, what, ten years since I had to give up my son?"

"I'm nine, actually, I turned nine on August tenth, remember?"

"Oh, um, right, OK, how about this? I take you home, and we'll work it all out there, OK?"

"Um, I live in Cedar Grove, Idaho."

"What? Idaho? How did you get here?"

"Um, a train, and a few buses, they were the cheapest I could find." MK glanced at him, her own mind filling with early attempts at finding her own parents.

She groaned and sighed, "Oh, alright, fine. You can spend the night on the sofa, we're leaving first thing in the morning."

Jamie's grin slightly dimmed, "Oh, OK, thanks mom!" He gave her a tight squeeze before dumping his backpack next to the sofa. MK went to grab a few blankets, muttering along the way.

"Of course, this just had to happen. And on my birthday, of all the days in the year, it had to be my birthday."

"Today's your birthday? Happy Birthday, Mom!" Jamie gave her another hug. After a few minutes, MK finally managed to pry him off and got him under the blankets, moving quickly away once she was done.

"Yeah, um, thanks. Well, good night, we've got a long drive tomorrow. I still can't believe you came all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada without any adults. Don't you have an adoptive mom? She'll be worried sick!"

"She's . . . she's not what you think."

MK stole a glance at him before turning off the lights, "Well, guess I'll be finding out soon enough."

About two days later, MK passed a sign advertising "Welcome to Cedar Grove." She glanced at the passenger seat, Jamie was sound asleep, for which she was thankful. She had heard plenty of the comings and goings of Cedar Grove, but the main conversation in particular nerved her. He had gone on and on about how she was supposed to save the town of Cedar Grove, and that her own parents were in the town. He had even showed her a book called _A Faraway Land_ , full of stories that she primarily recognized from her youth. Tales like Brown Bear of Norway, Rapunzel, The Sea Maiden, Jack Frost, and tons of others that she had come to know as mere fairy tales. She didn't want to hear about that book again, not wanting to have her hopes risen only to have them dashed again, but now she would have to wake him up so he could direct her to his house.

She leaned over and gave him a little nudge, "Hey kid, time to get up, we're in Cedar Grove. I need you to get me to your house." Jamie yawned as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Hm, yeah, OK." He took a quick look around before giving any directions. They got to his house easily enough, but MK noticed that with every minute closer, he became more alert and more depressed. Almost as soon as she parked her green car, the drama unfolded. A dark-haired woman dressed nicely in black came rushing out of the house to greet Jamie as he sauntered around the car.

"Jamie! Where have you been? I've been so worried about you! Jamie!" Jamie walked past her, not even giving her any eye contact, before muttering the news.

"I found my real mom!" He stomped into the house and, MK hoped, straight to his room. The woman turned to MK with a questioning look.

MK chuckled, "Yeah, that's what he claims. I'm not really sure. Um, here's his backpack." The woman practically snatched the backpack from MK.

"And you are?"

"I'm Mary Katherine Bomba, but you can call me MK."

"Ah, well, I'm Mavis Bennett, the Mayor of Cedar Grove. Thank you for bringing my son home, MK."

"Oh, no problem, otherwise he'd have been at my house making you more and more worried. I can't imagine what that would be like . . ."

"I don't think you would, but you were at least capable of thinking along those lines whereas my son was not. Now, I won't keep you much longer, I know you must have a long drive back, and you'd probably would want to get back home. I'm really sorry my son took up so much of your time." Mavis smiled and walked back to her house.

"Oh, um, OK," muttered MK as she got back into her car. She glanced at the house as Mavis turned to close the door. She wasn't sure what she saw, but something was not sitting right with her about Mayor Bennett. She pulled out of the driveway, still thinking. Maybe Jamie wasn't her son after all, but he did go to her, if not just to find his real mom, at least to get some help. MK glanced back at the house before it disappeared from her rearview mirror, and made a quick decision. "Sorry Mayor Bennett, but I'm not leaving until I know what's going on and that Jamie is safe." She pulled into the nearest hotel parking lot and got out, leaving no room for second thoughts. She walked into the hotel, where she was warmly greeted by the owner.

"Hello, I'm Paula Wiggins, welcome to the Wiggins Bed and Breakfast, how may we be of service?"

"Mom! I think Gramma Norma's gone off with Granny Puckett again!"

"Ted! Not now! We have a guest!" Paula turned back to MK and grinned. "Sorry about that."

"Oh no, that's alright, I'm looking for a room."

"Well, you've come to the best place in town . . ."

"Mom, we're the only hotel in town." A brown-haired boy who looked to be about 14 leaned on the staircase, glancing nonchalantly at the two.

"Oh, good, Ted, why don't you take this nice lady's bags up to room five where she'll be staying. How long will you be staying, Miss uh . . ."

"Oh, MK Bomba, and maybe a week?"

"A week! Wonderful! And what does MK stand for?"

"Mary Katherine."

"Alright, well, Mary Katherine, you've got the best view in the whole hotel. Hope you enjoy your stay here!" Paula handed her the key to room five, and with Ted's help, took her luggage up to the room. One she was alone and the door was closed, her thoughts turned back to Jamie.

She sighed, "If you are in fact my son, Jamie, the least I can do is get you out of the mess I got you into." She glanced out the window at the quaint little town before laying down on the bed and falling asleep.


	3. Jamie's Troubles

Mayor Bennett certainly wasn't too thrilled that MK had stayed in Cedar Grove, but she was nice enough to cooperate in MK's investigation of Jamie's troubles. The two, in fact, went together to see Jamie's teacher at the end of the school day to discuss something they found out during MK's talk with Mavis.

"Miss Bernards, may we have a word with you?" Mavis asked her.

"Sure, whatever you need, Mayor Bennett."

"OK, well, Miss Bernards, this is Mary Katherine Bomba, Jamie thinks she is his birth mother. The two of us were wondering how Jamie got all of his information and how he got to her house. Well, to get to the point, do you still have your credit card?"

Sarah May glanced quickly through her wallet, gasping, "Oh no, it's not here. I am so sorry about that, I didn't even know he snatched it."

Mavis rolled her eyes, "Go figure. And the book?"

Sarah May blinked, "What book?"

" _A Faraway Land_?" asked MK.

"Oh yes, I did gave it to him. He's been really sad, and I wanted to cheer him up."

"Well, that book has been putting a lot of silly ideas into his head that's concerning both me and Mary."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I-I just wanted to give him some hope."

"Next time, Miss Bernards, let me handle that, I am his mother, that's my job."

"Right, sorry, I'll take the book back."

"I'll have Jamie return it to you tomorrow. How did you get it in the first place?"

"Oh, I found it when I was cleaning out my closet. I didn't think anything would come of it when I gave to Jamie, honest. I thought that he would enjoy the stories, take his mind off of whatever was troubling him."

"Of course you thought that way. Thank you for your time, Miss Bernards." Mavis turned and walked away, MK pausing to give a smile and a wave to the redhead before following.

"So there you have it, Miss Bomba, the source of all our problems. Now that we have figured that out, I don't see why you need to stay here any longer."

"But why was Jamie feeling sad?"

"I will handle that. I am his mother now, not you. Good day, Miss Bomba." Mavis walked away, again without letting MK getting a word in edgewise. After letting out a groan at Mavis' apparent rudeness, MK took to exploring the town. She walked past quite a few shops, North's Toy Shoppe, Twinstruments, Mr. Overland's Antiques and Oddities, #12 Dance Studio, Fancy Fabrics, Harmony Gardens, to name a few, of the few that were there. She sighed as she passed a conversation that mentioned Mavis Bennett, and her thoughts went back to the problem. She wasn't going to let Mavis get her way, in fact, she might end up moving here permanently if Mavis kept insisting on her leaving, just to annoy her. Jamie might be pleased from that. MK paused, the kid really was growing on her, maybe he was her son after all, he had spent quite a bit of Miss Bernards money to find out for sure. She chuckled as she continued towards a restaurant, the kid was already acting a bit like her, maybe she should stay around, just for him. Besides, she did put him through almost exactly what she went through, and probably for the exact same reasons. A little bell rang when she opened the door of the restaurant, alerting the staff to her entrance.

"Hi, I'm Ellen, welcome to the Goodie Tree Diner. Would you like a booth, a regular table, or a seat at the counter?"

"Um, I'll take a corner booth, if there's one available."

"Sure, right this way." Ellen led MK to a nice little corner booth and handing her a menu before continuing, "What would you like to order?"

MK glanced through the menu, "Hmm . . . I think I'll have the pot pie."

"Oh, it's a fan favorite, I think you'll enjoy it a lot. Anything else?"

"Um, I'll also have the Walnut Salad and, um, I'll try the Strawberry Chocolate drink."

Ellen chuckled, "Sure, it'll be out in a bit. Would you like some water while you wait?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit," Ellen stated before walking off to give the chefs her order. MK sighed, she figured Ellen wanted to talk to her because she was clearly new in town, if everything that Jamie said was true. However, she didn't get long to take in the pink, orange, and red theme of the place before someone sat at her booth.

"Jamie! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at home!"

Jamie sighed, "I know, I know, but I know she'd want me to give Miss Bernards back this book, and I don't want to."

"You're going to have to, your mom and I both agree on this matter, Jamie. You are getting some strange ideas from that book."

"I know you don't believe right now, but you have to at least trust me. I couldn't show you the pictures in the car, but look at them now. Who does that remind you of?" MK looked at the pictures, and was rather glad she wasn't drinking anything at that moment. Several of the people she had met, and some she had seen around town, were in the book. Sarah May Bernards looked like Princess Merida of Myrsina, Mavis looked like the evil witch, and several of the girls at the #12 Dance Studio looked like some of the Twelve Dancing Princesses!

"Wow, someone took a lot of time to put everyone in town in their own fairy tales, even turning your mom into a villain," she stated, eyeing the nine-year-old.

"No, mom, they didn't, everything in this book took place before the spell. Don't you get it? Princess Merida and Chief Hiccup are your parents! My teacher, Miss Sarah May Bernards, is Princess Merida!"

"Well then, where's Chief Hiccup?"

"He's in a coma at the hospital. He's been in it ever since I've been here, maybe longer," Jamie bit his lip. MK looked up at him, something deep inside yearning for everything he said to be true, yet another voice inside of her said it just couldn't be possible. "Please, at least read your parents' fairy tales, Brown Bear of Norway, and Myrsina."

Mk glanced down at the book, sighing, "And then you'll give it back to Miss Bernards?"

Jamie shrugged, "Maybe, unless you want to keep it a bit longer, read the whole thing." MK sighed, shaking her head, this kid was going to get her into a lot of trouble if he kept this up.

"Alright, I'll read those two, but only those two, and then you're giving it right back to Miss Bernards. She's feeling bad about giving it to you."

"That's the thing, she shouldn't be, she used to love a chance at making Mavis mad."

"Are you going to let me read this or not?"

"Right, sorry, go ahead." MK sighed as she glanced down at the book, and began to read.


	4. Comatose

"So, you're telling me that Princess Merida and Chief Hiccup, or rather, your third-grade teacher Sarah May Bernards and some unknown coma patient are my parents?"

Jamie nodded with finality, "Yup, you wanna see him? Miss Bernards should be at the hospital now, she usually volunteers there."

"Might as well, you can return the book to her there."

Jamie sighed, "OK, I'll return the book. Hmm . . ."

"What are you thinking about?" asked MK when she noticed the sparkle in Jamie's eyes.

"Oh, I was just thinking, maybe Miss Bernards should read him their stories, maybe he'll start to remember and wake up!" he grinned at her.

"That sounds like a good idea," muttered MK. At least the book would finally be going back to its original owner and maybe she could leave. But she glanced down at Jamie, and realized just how much she missed by giving him up. She wanted to have some of that before she left him again. She quietly let out a breath, looks like she was going to stay around for longer than a week.

Jamie led her to the hospital where, sure enough, Miss Bernards was volunteering with cheering up some of the patients.

"Oh, hello again, Miss Bomba! How are you enjoying your stay in Cedar Grove?"

"Oh, you can call me MK, and I'm enjoying it fairly well considering the only thing I've done today was try to get the bottom of Jamie's troubles."

Jamie grinned at her, "See? She really is my real mom."

MK rolled her eyes, "OK, kid, why don't you keep your side of the bargain?"

Jamie nodded, "Right, here Miss Bernards." He handed Sarah May the book.

"Oh, thank you. You could have given it to me tomorrow at school."

"That's alright, I did make a deal with mom to give it to you once she had read Brown Bear of Norway and Myrsina."

"You can call me MK too," MK told Jamie.

Jamie shrugged, "Alright, but I like calling you mom."

"So, um, what did you think of the fairy tales?" Sarah May asked, noting that MK wanted to change the subject.

"Well, it was a lot longer than I remember . . ."

"And there are connections between the stories," Sarah May added.

"And they're real!"

Sarah May gasped, "Jamie! He's already told you about his theories?"

"That you're Princess Merida, that guy in the coma is Chief Hiccup, and that somehow you're my parents?"

Sarah May's eyes widened, "W-what? How . . ."

"Well, yeah, Princess Merida and Chief Hiccup named their baby Mary Katherine, it says so at the end. Wanna see?"

MK shook her head, "Not now, I've got to get you home. Hurry up and explain to Miss Bernards your idea."

"Oh, you can call me Sarah May, and what idea?"

Jamie sighed, "That maybe you can read _A Faraway Land_ , particularly Brown Bear of Norway and Myrsina, to the patient in the coma, he might respond to that."

Sarah May cocked her head, "Well that is an idea worth checking out. I'll read to him before I leave the hospital."

"Great, thanks! Oh, um, MK, you wanna take a look at the coma patient?"

"Why?"

Jamie took back the book, opened it, and pointed to a picture of Chief Hiccup, "To compare the two."

MK sighed, "Alright, real quick." They went into the patient's room, and Jamie pointed out several similarities between the patient and the picture.

"See? He has the same brown hair, the same face shape, and that a little scar on his chin. No one else in Cedar Grove has a scar like that."

"Were you looking at people to compare them with people in the book?"

Jamie grinned nervously, "Uh, yeah, once I noticed Miss Bernards' similarities to Princess Merida."

MK sighed, "OK, come on, kid, we should get going. Maybe I can actually get some vacation time."

"Hey, MK, would you like it if I showed you around Cedar Grove tomorrow?"

MK looked back at her and shrugged, "Sure, I guess."

"Great, meet me at the Goodie Tree at nine o'clock, if that's not too early for you."

"Oh, not at all, nine o'clock it is. Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow! Come on Jamie, I"ve got to get you home." The two walked away after waving to Sarah May. She waved back and put the book down in the coma patient's room.

"I'll be back to read to you. Jamie was real sweet to think of you," she whispered. She went back to the rest of her regular routine, ending back up in the coma patient's room. She took a deep breath as she opened up the book, and began to read Brown Bear of Norway to the patient.

Meanwhile, MK drove Jamie back to his house, where his mom was in less of a hysterics than when MK returned Jamie the first time.

"So, you two were together again, I see?"

"Yeah, I wanted to spend some time with my real mom, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I just would have liked to have known where you were so I don't have to worry about you. And where's the book?"

"We went to the hospital first to return that to Miss Bernards," reported MK.

A smile finally appeared on Mavis' face, a relieved one, "That's wonderful, there's some good news for the day. Alright Jamie, you need to get to your room, take care of your homework, and get to bed. I will talk to your mother about any further time together, though I do request that he has to at least finish his homework before spending any time with you."

MK nodded, "Fair enough."

Jamie smiled, "Thanks mom!" before taking off to the house.

Mavis turned back to MK, "So, how long do you plan on staying here?"

MK shrugged, "At least a week, no more than two. Sarah May offered to show me around on Saturday."

Mavis gave a strange look at the name of Sarah May, but quickly covered it back up, "That's good, maybe Jamie can go with you on that day too. If you don't mind, I did make plans for us on Sunday that I'm afraid we can't back out of. Oh, won't you come in?"

"Sure," said MK as she walked into the mayor's house for the first time. It was grand, but not too overbearing, rather simple in taste, which MK quite approved of. She gave a little sigh as she walked into the kitchen after Mavis.

"Something wrong, Miss Bomba?"

"Oh no, I'm just so happy that you were able to give Jamie the life I couldn't. Thank you."

Mavis gave her a real smile, "Well I'm glad to have been able to have given him that chance. Will you give him a chance to know you for a little while?"

MK nodded, sighing, "That's the plan, that's why I'm going to be here at least a week. Oh, thank you." Mavis had set a cup of steaming chocolate down in front of her.

"You're welcome," she said, before they were interrupted by two sounds, a phone ringing and Jamie's exclamation.

"Yay! I'll get to spend more time with you!"

Mavis walked out of the room so she could answer the phone, "Hello?"

"You wanted me to call when something happened? Well, Miss Bernards is pretty hysterical, and pretty sure that he just reached out and grabbed her arm."

Mavis pursed her lips, "Alright, thank you Dr. Lupei. Let me know if anything else happens. Wait . . . did she do something different tonight?"

"She said yes, she read to him a bit of the book _A Faraway Land_ , at your son's request." Mavis sucked in her breath, that book was turning out to be more of a problem than she had anticipated. "Miss Mayor?"

"Just keep me posted if anything else happens, Dr. Lupei. Thank you for contacting me with this development."

"You're welcome, Miss Mayor. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Doctor." She turned off the phone, and looked back at the kitchen where she left MK and Jamie, everything was already falling apart at the seams. But should she fight it, or go with the flow?


	5. Saturday Stroll

Saturday dawned with a cloudless sky, and a choir of birds woke MK up from a fitful sleep. She was glad to have to wake up and get ready to go, she didn't like the nightmares she had. How could she? She didn't really know what was going on besides not being able to do anything and catching a few discernable words, one of which was her name. Was it really a dream, or was it a memory? She shook the notion out of her head, and went downstairs. She found Paula talking with someone she hadn't met before.

"I know what you're going to say, Mr. Overland, I'm behind on my bills again. Really, I am trying."

"I know you are, Mrs. Wiggins, and . . . and who may I ask is this?" He noticed MK as she tried to sneak past.

"Oh, my customer, Mr. Overland, as you were saying . . .?"

He held out a hand to MK, "Not very many people come this way. I'm Jackson Overland, at your service." She had taken his hand and, with a nervous grin, shook it.

"Oh hi, I'm Mary Katherine, but you can call me MK."

"Mary Katherine, huh? Lovely name."

"Oh, uh, thanks. You own Mr. Overland's Antiques and Oddities, right?"

Jackson smiled, "Indeed I do. I don't open for another hour, though, so I figured I'd come by and take care of business."

"Well, don't pay me any mind, I'm just heading out for some sight-seeing."

"Oh, mind if I join?"

"Um . . . I don't know, Sarah May and Jamie are showing me around, and don't you have business to take care of?"

"Sarah May Bernards and Jamie Bennett? Nice people, you'll have fun, and my store can wait for a bit. As for the business with Mrs. Wiggins, that's real quick, actually. I just wanted to let you know that this will be your last payment to me, and I'll give you a full year to pay it off," he grinned at the awestruck Paula.

"R-really? Y-you mean it?" Jackson nodded, his grin getting bigger. Paula gave a little scream and hugged Jackson, just about picking his skinny form off the ground and twirling him around before letting his feet reconnect with the ground.

"Um, OK, glad that you like the news," he stated as he patted her back, still grinning widely.

"Like it? I love it! Mr. Overland, that's the best news I've had in years!"

Jackson laughed, "Then take the day off and go enjoy some time with that nice kid of yours." He glanced at MK, "I think it's time we all had a bit of fun." He left Paula and opened the door for MK, "Shall we be off? I don't want you to be late." MK nodded and led the way out, Jackson taking her in his car. There was silence on the drive over, MK's dreams still haunting her in the daylight, and unsure of what to say to probably the richest man in town. They reached the diner at exactly nine o'clock, Sarah May and Jamie already there.

"Hey, Mr. Overland! What are you doing here?" Jamie exclaimed as he rushed to give Jackson a hug.

Jackson laughed, "Oh, I ran into MK here at the Wiggins, and I invited myself to your little outing, I hope you don't mind."

Sarah May shook her head, "Not at all, you're always welcome."

"Great, and you have the use of my car for longer distances."

Jamie gasped, "You mean we get to ride in your fancy car?"

Jackson chuckled as he ruffled Jamie's hair, "Yup."

"Awesome! Can we hurry it up and eat breakfast so we can go?" Jackson and Sarah May laughed.

"Jamie! Slow down, one thing at a time!" chuckled MK as she got her son to sit down. They quickly made their order, and talked while they waited for it.

"Mr. Overland, don't you need to open up your shop later?" Sarah May asked.

Jackson shrugged and winked, "Yes, it just depends on how much later you're talking about."

Sarah May rolled her eyes, "Well, I was thinking of having a picnic in a spot Jamie picked out, then finishing up with dinner here."

"That sounds great."

"Sounds like fun!" grinned Jackson.

"Really, Mr. Overland, shouldn't you get back to your shop?"

"Nah, it can wait till Monday. It's not everyday I get to enjoy the splendor of Cedar Grove or the company of friends."

Sarah May raised an eyebrow, "Oh, alright, I guess we'll have to skip your shop . . ."

Jackson burst out laughing, "You do realize that I own the place and that I can let you in, right?"

Sarah May blinked in surprise before letting out a breath, "Oh, fine, but I expect you and Jamie to behave yourselves, ya hear?"

Jamie and Jackson glanced at each other and grinned before turning back to Sarah May, "We promise!" Sarah May merely rolled her eyes and groaned while the two guys chuckled.

"So, where's this place you picked out for a picnic, Jamie?"

Jamie grinned and winked, "It's a surprise, but I can tell you this, it's one of my favorite places and after today, your three will be the only people to know about it."

"Really? Wow, I feel so honored Jamie. But did it have to wait until your mom showed up to show us?"

Jamie glanced at Jackson and snickered, "You already know about it, and I couldn't get Miss Bernards to come sooner because either she was busy, or my mom had something planned."

Sarah May smiled apologetically, "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it wasn't your fault, I understand that things come up and things don't always go the way we planned."

"Wow, Jamie, you sound so, so grown-up," sniffed Sarah May.

"Yeah, but don't grow up too fast, or you'll miss all of the fun of childhood."

Jamie laughed, "Don't worry, Mr. Overland, I won't." The chatter died down as a pile of pancakes, eggs, and bacon entered their vision when the waitress set down plates of food.

"Mmm . . . I don't know about you, but looking at that is making me hungrier than I already am. Smelling it doesn't help either." The others laughed.

"Alright, Mr. Overland, we get the idea. let's go ahead and eat, I'm becoming curious about Jamie's special spot," remarked MK.

"Good," stated Jackson between mouthfuls, "I think you'll like it." His blue eyes twinkled as he took another bite. "So, besides my shop and Jamie's special spot, is there anywhere else we're going?"

"Oh, just the shops around town, and a few of the natural wonders of Cedar Grove."

"Like where, exactly?"

Sarah May grinned, "Oh come on, I want to keep a few secrets to myself."

Jackson rolled his eyes and groaned, "Oh, alright, but if I'm providing transportation, I kinda need to know."

Sarah May laughed, "Don't worry, when it comes time to use your car, I'll let you know."

Jackson raised an eyebrow, "We're walking?"

Sarah May nodded, "At least for some of it, Cedar Grove isn't exactly that big."

MK chuckled, "She's right, it might be one-sixth the size of Los Angeles, if not smaller, and you definitely need some kind of transportation to get anywhere in Los Angeles."

"So, do you prefer Cedar Grove over Los Angeles?" Jamie asked, glancing at MK.

MK shrugged, "I don't know yet, ask me once I've seen more of the place."

"OK, well, I'm done, let's go!"

"Jamie! We're not even done yet!" Sarah May berated him. Jamie glanced down at their plates, they still had some food left on theirs, compared to his practically clean plate.

A side grin played on his face as he sat back down, "Sorry, Miss Bernards, but I really want to show mom, I mean, MK around Cedar Grove!"

Jackson glanced between Jamie and MK, "Wait, you don't want him to call you mom?"

"Just because I'm his biological mother doesn't mean I deserve being called mom anymore than his adoptive mom."

"Actually, you kinda do deserve it more than Mavis . . ."

"Jackson!"

Jackson shrugged as he continued, "But that's just me. And besides, shouldn't he get to decide if he calls you mom or not?"

"That should be between me and him, it's not particularly any business of yours."

"That's true, but considering I've known this kid for the past nine years and not you, kinda makes it my business." MK eyed him, but didn't get to say anything else as Sarah May jumped in.

"Well, it looks like everyone's done. Shall we get going?"

"Yay!" cheered Jamie as he bolted for the door. "Come on you slow pokes! My childhood is wasting away!" Jackson laughed as he put a few bills down on the table before following Jamie.

"We hear ya, but that's part of the reason why you shouldn't wait around too long for us slow pokes," grinned Jackson as he ruffled Jamie's hair. Jamie tried to get back at him, but he wasn't tall enough. However, MK was, and tussled Jackson's white hair before letting Jamie take her by the hand and lead her to the first store.

The women were mainly doing the shopping at Fancy Fabrics, Jackson and Jamie hung back, joking about a few of the designs and playing around with the fabric. MK bought a few pieces of clothing and a tailored dress that had yet to be made, and after much convincing to stay around for the Halloween ball. Next up was #12 Dance Studio, which was also a shoe store, and got shoes to match the dress. Jamie and Jackson played around with the shoes and Jackson pretended to dance, slide around was more like it. After getting the students to laugh, Sarah May and MK managed to drag the two tricksters out the door. Jackson was having way too much fun at the next shop, Once Upon a Hat. They spent some time in there, glancing over the many hats and shawls that the owner, Oscar Adams, had made, before heading off to lunch. Jackson drove them part of the way there, but they had to get out and walk the rest of the way. Jamie took the lead with MK, leaving Sarah May and Jackson far behind.

MK glanced back at them, chuckling over some joke, "Are you sure Sarah May should be in love with some guy she doesn't know? It looks like she and Jackson are getting along quite well."

Jamie sighed as he patiently explained, "No, they don't remember their past lives, Princess Merida belongs with Chief Hiccup, and Jack Frost belongs with Rapunzel!"

"R-Rapunzel? Doesn't she marry a prince?"

"Maybe you should borrow A Faraway Land from Miss Bernards and read the whole thing, everything connects, and everybody."

"Yeah, OK, maybe, but the way Sarah May and Jackson are talking, they would work really well together." Jamie rolled his eyes, there had to be some way to get his mom to understand. But that could wait another day, right now, MK was impressed with his favorite spot.

"Wow, Jamie, you've really outdone yourself! This miniature castle is amazing!" Before them stood a kid-sized castle, with a moat and a working bridge. Sarah May was just as amazed when she and Jackson came around the corner.

Jamie grinned, "Thanks, but Jackson did help with a lot, and gave me several ideas."

Jackson gave a little wink. "Well, come on, we don't want the food to spoil before we eat it!" Jamie led the way into his little castle, the adults were glad to find that they didn't have to stoop quite so much as many passages were open to the sky. Jamie took them to the dining hall, where they had a cold lunch, before showing them around the replica, even a few rooms equipped for a slumber party.

"This is just so cool!" exclaimed Sarah May at the end of the tour.

Jackson grinned, "Glad you liked it." Sarah May grinned back as she reached into her pocket, but was surprised when it came out empty-handed.

She gasped, "Oh no, I must have dropped my phone in the car! Does anyone have the time?"

Jackson took out an old pocket watch and glanced at it, "Yeah, it's almost two o'clock."

"Already? There's still so much to see!" Sarah May grabbed MK's arm and dashed back to the car, Jackson and Jamie trailing not far behind.

"Th-that's alright, maybe we could finish this tomorrow?" panted MK when they reached the car.

"Well, let's at least check out a few more stops before I have to head back to the hospital," explained Sarah May as Jackson and Jamie bounded up with the picnic pack. Jackson unlocked the car after everyone took a breath, and they piled in. Sarah May found her phone sitting on the cushion in the passenger seat, her eyebrows raised as she glanced at it.

"Sarah May, what's wrong?"

"The hospital called and left a message. Hang on a sec, this might be important." She put the phone to her ear as Jackson pulled out of the parking lot.

"I do need to know where to go next," pointed out Jackson.

Sarah May gasped, "The hospital! We need to go to the hospital, now!"

"What, why?"

"The coma patient, he's gone missing!"


	6. Mising

"What do you mean he's missing? When did this happen?" asked MK the instant they walked into the hospital. Dr. Lupei met them at the door and escorted them to the patient's ex-room.

"We don't know, Miss Bomba, when I went to check on him this afternoon, he was gone! He was there last night when I closed up. I don't know what could have happened."

MK did some quick thinking, "Do you have any cameras recording? Any video we can play back?"

Dr. Lupei thought about it, "Maybe, let me take you to the security room." He led them to a small room where an officer sat, looking at some video feed.

MK practically took control, "Excuse me, did you record everything from the last twenty-four hours?"

"Um, I think so, give me a sec here." He took out a video and rewinded it in a different VCR before sticking it back into the TV and fast-forwarded it to just when the doctor left. He fast-forwarded it a few more times before MK stopped him.

"There, look!" They watched the video in shock, the coma patient got up.

Sarah May gasped, "What? He-he just ups and walks out?"

"Not quite, he's limping," Jack pointed out.

"We have to find him, he could get himself more hurt," stated MK as she and Sarah May rushed out of the little room, Jackson and Jamie not far behind. They met Mavis at the door.

Her eyes narrowed at Sarah May and practically hissed, "What are you doing here?" Jamie shot an 'I told you so' glance at MK.

Sarah May blinked, "I'm on the list of contacts for him!" Mavis glanced wide-eyed at Dr. Lupei, who merely nodded.

"And where were you heading off to?"

"MK thought of looking at the surveillance cameras to see what happened . . . he-he just got up and walked out in the middle of the night!"

"Limped out," Jackson corrected.

"We have to go find him, he could be worse now than he was before!"

Mavis rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine, Dr. Lupei, will you be so kind as to stay here in case he manages to come back? And call in Sheriff Harris, see what he can do to help with the search."

Dr. Lupei nodded, "Of course, Mayor."

"Jamie, you're coming with me . . ."

"What? Why? There's plenty of room in Mr. Overland's car!"

"If we work in teams, we can cover more ground. You know a lot of these buildings, and you know what he looks like, I don't."

"Yeah you do," muttered Jamie.

Mavis pursed her lips, "No, I do not, if you split up to help the larger search groups, there's a big chance we'll find him faster."

Jamie rolled his eyes, "Fine, see you on Monday, Miss Bernards. See you later, MK, Mr. Overland."

Jackson winked, "See you around Jamie, bet I could find that coma patient first."

Jamie cracked a grin, "Unless I find him first."

"Alright, the race is on!" shouted Jackson as he bolted out the door.

"Hey, no fair!" shouted Jamie as he followed. "Mom, come on!"

"Wait in the car, I need to talk to Dr. Lupei real quick about an idea. Won't take long, promise!" MK and Sarah May walked to Jackson's car, MK winking at Jamie as she deliberately walked slower.

"Oh, what's the most likely place he would go?" Jamie suddenly asked. The others paused and glanced at him.

"W-what? How should we know? He's been in a coma! We don't know anything about him!"

Jamie gave a little grin as he rushed to the back seat of Jackson's car, "I have an idea."

Jackson gave him a weird look as he pulled out _A Faraway Land_ , "What are you doing?"

"It's for them," he whispered.

MK's mouth dropped as she turned to Sarah May, "You brought that with you?"

Sarah May shrugged, "Jamie asked if he could compare his castle to the ones pictured in the book." Mk rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Head to the ring of stones, he's looking for her," Jamie blurted before rushing to his mom's car and jumped in. Mavis walked out a bit later, got in, and the two drove away.

"Uh, a ring of stones, like Stonehenge? And who is he looking for?" asked MK as they made their way back to the woods.

"Unless he meant the camping grounds, there are several fire pits made from stones," mused Sarah May as she flipped through the book. MK glanced at her, the longing in her eyes for what her supposed alter-ego had in the fairy tale was evidently strong.

"Is there one around here?" asked MK.

Jackson glanced at them through the rearview mirror, "Yeah, there is, I know a shortcut we can take." The rest of the way was in silence, each to their own thoughts, MK battling the possible truth of events in the book with proven facts. Jackson parked at a different part of the forest, and the three got out quickly, Jackson leading them further into the forest. They wove between the trees, jumped over logs, and dodged low branches in their haste to get to the coma patient.

Sarah May started yelling into the trees, "Hello! Are you here? Hello! Start walking towards my voice, if you can!"

"Sarah May! We don't know if he's out here, or if there's anyone else out here! He might even think we're looking for someone else!" exclaimed MK.

"But . . ."

"Oh come on, you two, daylight's fading fast,' grumbled Jackson as he took the lead.

"Sorry," they muttered before following him. He used his cane to knock down long blades of grass and low-hanging branches out of the way. He walked briskly, the two women having to rush to keep up with his long stride.

"We're almost there," he announced. A few feet later, they saw it, a large clearing in the forest, rings of stones scattered here and there as fire pits. "Let's split up, he could be anywhere around here." Jackson took off down one direction, Sarah May grabbed MK's arm and took off down the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" asked MK when Sarah May didn't pause to look through some of the other paths or campsites.

"I remembered, the ring of stones was on a hill! He could be at Stone Hill!" MK had to roll her eyes, Stone Hill sounded lame, but she couldn't believe her eyes when they got close. There was a stone-like gazebo that graced the top of the hill, and looked like it had been there a long time. Vines wrapped around the pillars, blackberries popping out between the still-blooming blossoms. Sarah May gasped, "Look!" There, sticking out the doorway was a foot, and a metallic peg leg, MK assumed as she gulped, this guy really did have a lot in common with Chief Hiccup. She ran after Sarah May, the two rushing to make sure the patient was still alright. Sarah May checked his pulse immediately upon arriving at his side, letting out a sigh of relief. "He's alive, barely."

"Good thing we got here in time. What made you think of checking over here?"

"What Jamie said about the ring of stones . . . I -I guess he was right," she muttered as she absent-mindedly played with the tiny braid in his hair. MK glanced at Sarah May's faraway look, and a longing she thought she had long suppressed rose to the surface. A groan from the patient shook them both out of their thoughts. "Hello, sir? Are you alright? Can you tell me your name?"

He looked at them with something akin to fear and uncertainty, "Uh . . . I guess I'm alright, but . . . I don't know . . . my name."

"Sarah May, let's him to Jackson's car and get him back to the hospital, he's been out here too long . . ."

"No! She supposed to be here! She said she would be here!"

"Who, sir, who?"

"Th-the princess!" he blurted, before passing out.


	7. Wrong or Right

MK found Sarah May at the Goodie Tree the next morning, gloomily stirring a cup of steaming apple cider.

"Hey, Sarah May, what's wrong?"

"They found his wife," she muttered.

"What?"

"They used the same technique you did, they went back and watched a couple of nights, he called out her name in his sleep apparently, Esther. And now we know his name, Richard Hawkins."

MK's mind started whirling, "Wait, how long has he been in a coma?"

"For years," mumbled Sarah May, her eyes never leaving the cup.

"What, shouldn't she have found him by now?"

"She thought he had left the city for good, she didn't think that he would end up in the hospital in a coma . . ."

"For years," continued MK. Sarah May gave a slight nod. "For as long as you can remember?" Sarah May nodded again. "How long is that?" Sarah May finally glanced up at the strange question.

"What do you mean?"

"How long do you remember living here?"

"I . . . I don't know . . . it's been a while . . ."

"Longer than Jamie's been alive?"

Sarah May blinked, "I-I guess so . . ."

"Then he has been in a coma for more than ten years, and, I can't believe I'm saying this, he only comes out now because you read _A Faraway Land_ to him."

It seemed a hope sprung to life in Sarah May's eyes, "Do you, do you think that everything that happened in _A Faraway Land_ is . . . is real?"

MK bit her lip, "I-I'm not exactly sure, I'm just saying that this is a little strange."

"Oh," replied Sarah May, glancing back down at her apple cider.

"I mean, it doesn't have to work out the same as in _A Faraway Land_ , after all, you and Jackson Overland seemed to get along pretty well."

Sarah May's head snapped up, "Let me make this clear to you right now, there is only friendship I feel for Jackson, maybe even a bit of sibling love, but nothing more. Alright?"

MK gulped, nodding, "A-alright, I'm sorry, the two of you actually looked happy."

Sarah May sighed, "I know why you'd think that way, but it's nothing compared to what my alter ego, Princess Merida, got with Chief Hiccup."

"Are you assuming that Richard might like you back?" Sarah May pursed her lips in response. MK gasped, "Sarah May, you barely even know him! How could you even think like that?"

"I-I don't know, ever since Jamie started reading that book, it's like, it's like I got this feeling that things would get better finally."

MK groaned, "Oh, that book, I'm getting tired of hearing it, please change the subject."

Sarah May glanced up at the clock and gasped, "Oh no! I'm late! I'm supposed to be at the hospital in a few minutes! I've got to run, we can talk some more later. Oh! Would you like to come to my apartment for dinner? I haven't had anybody over since I cleaned it."

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"Great! I'll pick you up at the hotel at five, sound good?"

"Sounds fine."

"Great! See ya!" With that, she rushed out the door. MK turned back to where she had sat and sighed, her thoughts turning back to everything that had happened. It seemed like everything was falling apart, or at least changing, in Cedar Grove ever since she arrived. She finished her breakfast and turned to leave, but paused, glancing back at Sarah May's place. She hated wasting food, and scooped up the teacup to finish the cider. She gulped down some of the cider before pausing to glance at it. Strange, she had never known anyone who liked having almond extract in their apple cider. She quickly chugged the rest of it, smacking her lips at the end. Boy, did she miss that. Maybe she should ask Sarah May at dinner that evening. She paused as she glanced at the clock. But what should she do until then?

Sarah May rushed to the hospital, getting there right as the clock struck ten. She paused in the lobby to catch her breath real quick before going about her routine. She had barely started when Dr. Lupei approached her with a request.

"Miss Bernards, perhaps I could persuade you to concentrate your volunteering time today on Mr. Hawkins? I'm afraid I cannot spare my staff for him, but since there really isn't much that you need to do today, I was wondering if you could spend time with him? All he asks is for a bit of company."

"Oh, why, sure, Doc, whatever you need."

Lupei smiled, "Thank you, Miss Bernards, I would appreciated it." Giving her a slight bow, he left to take care of a few other patients. She was glad Dr. Lupei had left when he had, otherwise he might have changed his mind. She took a few minutes to calm her racing heart before entering Richard's room.

"Hello, Mr. Hawkins, how are you today?" He glanced up, it took everything she had not to lose her composure right then and there under the scrutinizing gaze of those green eyes. "What?" she asked after a few minutes of agonizing silence.

"You're prettier than the staff here," he replied bluntly. Sarah May felt some heat rise to her cheeks before bursting out laughing. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, Dr. Lupei was pretty protective of his staff.

"Um, sorry, that wasn't very nice, even to be funny."

Richard chuckled, "That's alright, I just meant it as a compliment." Sarah May's heart pretty much skipped a beat at that. She blinked, what were they doing? He was married!

"Well, compliment or not, it wasn't very nice. So, what would you like to do today, Mr. Hawkins?"

"Oh, call me Richard, please. I would just like to talk, if you don't mind."

Sarah May shook her head, "Not at all. What would you like to talk about?"

Richard shrugged, "Anything, really, the town, what's been going on, everything."

"Do you remember anything about Cedar Grove?"

Richard shook his head, "Not even my own wife, or why I left her." He paused and glanced down, "Is, is she even my wife?"

Sarah May bit her lip before replying, "They said you are, she said you are. They found a video of you calling out her name in your sleep."

"Oh," he mumbled. There was a bit of silence before he spoke again. "Is it nice outside?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I want to go for a walk, want to come with me?"

Sarah May grinned, "Have to, I can't leave you alone since you just got out of a coma."

Richard smiled, "Oh, fine. Well, shall we?" She helped him out of his bed and led him to the garden in the back of the hospital. She told him some bits about the town before they were interrupted by a pretty blonde.

"Richard! What are you doing up?"

"It's fine, doctor's orders," Sarah May immediately replied. The blonde shot Sarah May a look before walking up to Richard, hit him in the stomach, and pulled him in for a kiss, much to Sarah May's surprise and anger.

"What? What was that for?" he asked when they separated.

"That was for leaving me, and this is for getting yourself into a coma," she stated, hitting him again. Sarah May couldn't stand back and watch it.

"Excuse me, ma'am, this is a hospital, he's supposed to be healing, not get hurt all over again."

The blonde turned on Sarah May, "And what exactly are you doing with my husband? You're not one of the staff."

"Esther . . ." began Richard.

Sarah May looked straight into Esther's eyes, "I'm a volunteer, and the doctor asked that I help with your husband's recovery as there are other patients that they need to tend to. Is there a problem with getting your husband back to full health?"

Esther pursed her lips, "No."

"Then let us do our job and get your husband back to full health. And if you cannot come here to visit your husband without hitting him, then I must ask that you stay away until Richard is fully healed." Esther glared at Sarah May, their clothes showing a stark difference between the two. But Sarah May held her own, and didn't stop until Esther had finally left the garden.

"Well, I think I know now why I left," Richard stated, giving a little grin. His face fell when Sarah May's face didn't change a bit. "H-hey, it's alright, really. I left because of that, remember?"

"No, I don't, I didn't know you years ago . . ."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What if . . . what if none of us remembers who we really are? What if this isn't who we are, or are supposed to be?"

"Um . . . I don't get it."

"I read you a book the other night, it was called _A Faraway Land_ , it was the first time you responded to something in years."

"And?"

"And everyone here is in that book!"

"Wait, what?"

"You, me, everybody, there are versions of us in that book. I'm Princess Merida of the Scots . . ."

Richard chuckled, "You certainly look Scottish. What about me?""

"You, you're Chief Hiccup," she whispered. Richard watched her as she sighed, "We, they got married and had a little girl."

"Is, is Esther in that book too?"

"I-I think so, and she married someone else, I think, I really didn't read much. Jamie knows all about it."

"Jamie?"

"Oh, right, he's the adopted son of our illustrious mayor, Mavis Bennett."

"Oh, and his real mother?"

"He found her, Mary Katherine Bomba, nice girl. We've convinced her to stay and visit until Halloween. Oh, speaking of, I promised her dinner at my place tonight, so I have to keep an eye on the time."

"They sound like great people. Can I meet them?"

"Sure! Maybe I can bring them with me after school tomorrow, Jamie was the one who suggested reading the book to you."

"Great, I'll get to meet my other saviors then." He smiled, and Sarah May had no choice but to smile back, his happiness was pretty infectious. She told him more about Cedar Grove before leaving, having promised him to take him on the next outing with MK and Jamie, and possibly Jackson. She got to her house and began supper, getting most of it finished before leaving to pick up MK.

"What's with you?" MK asked as soon as she got into the car.

"Huh, what are you talking about?"

"You're practically glowing!" Sarah May took a quick glance in the rearview mirror to see.

She blushed a she turned her eyes back to the road, "Oh, I guess it's because I talked with Richard today, and I stood up to his wife."

"You did what?"

"He had a good reason to leave her, MK, she's abusive! She hit him twice upon seeing him, and in my presence of all things!"

"W-what? She hit him? Twice?" Sarah May nodded. "But he's getting better!"

"Exactly, so I told her if she couldn't refrain from hitting him whenever she saw him, then she would just have to leave him alone at the hospital."

"Good for you!"

Sarah May grinned, "Thanks, I felt really good for standing up for him. He is really just the sweetest thing. I promised to take him with us on our next outing."

"Next outing?"

"Well, yeah, we had to postpone ours because of him!"

MK laughed, "That's true."

"Besides, he wants to meet you and Jamie, and thank you in person for everything you did for him."

"Well, we didn't do much, it was all you, really."

"Oh no, you two did help, especially Jamie with his ideas, I just acted on them," shrugged Sarah May as she pulled into her apartment complex. "Well, here we are, hope you don't mind, it's kind of small."

MK chuckled as she followed her hostess up the stairs, "It's probably bigger than my hotel room, and my own apartment. Oh wow." She entered the apartment, it was tiny, but comfortable and cozy. She glanced over the reds, whites, and greens that up made the theme of the apartment, with apples dotted here and there. "Sarah May, this looks amazing."

"Oh, thanks. Why don't you take a seat? I'll be right back," she replied as she dashed into the kitchen. MK took a seat at the counter, gazing into the blazing fire ahead of her in the living room. "Here you are," stated Sarah May as she set down two plates of steaming mashed potatoes, aromatic corned beef, and a tangy vinaigrette drizzled over diced carrots.

MK gasped, "Corned beef! I haven't had this in a long time!"

Sarah May chuckled, "Then you need to come over more often! My family and I tend to have it whenever we can."

"Your family?"

"Mm-hmm, my mom, dad, and triplet brothers, they have a place out in the countryside and run some stables."

"Wow, can we go riding one day?"

Sarah May grinned, "Maybe we can do that this weekend, you, me, Jamie, Richard, and even Jackson, if he wants to come. Well, go on, eat! Before your food gets cold."

"Oh, right," and MK began eating her food. "So, um, why did you become a teacher?"

"Oh, my mom inspired me with a love of learning, and I wanted to give that to future generations. And I like hanging out with the children, they're actually a little easier to handle than my brothers," she laughed.

MK laughed, "Really? Your brothers are that bad?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Though you might find out when we go horseback riding."

"Oh man, I'm not sure if I want to know."

Sarah May laughed as she got up, "It might not be that bad, considering that they tend to be well-behaved until they get to know you better, then they'll strike. Excuse me for a minute, I need to take care of the apple pie and the cider."

"Oh, um . . ." began MK, but Sarah May had already walked into the kitchen, humming a little song. MK sighed and finished her dinner, by then, Sarah May had come back with two plates of apple pie and two steaming mugs of apple cider. "Oh, um, Sarah May?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you always have almond extract in your apple cider?" Sarah May glanced at her with surprise. "Sorry, I went ahead and finished your cider this morning, and I was just curious. I thought I was the only one who liked it."

Sarah May's mouth dropped, "Y-you like almond in your cider too?" MK nodded. Sarah May gave a little squeal and hugged MK. "We must be kindred spirits or something! Jamie was the only other one I knew of!"

"W-what? Jamie likes almond in his cider too?"

Sarah May nodded, "Yes, that can only mean that he really is your son!" MK sat back in her chair, baffled. Sarah May noticed tears forming in her eyes. "MK, are you alright?"

"I-I don't know. It's like the longer I'm here, the more I feel like I belong. For the first time in my life, I feel like I could belong."

"Oh, MK," cooed Sarah May as she pulled the sobbing girl into her arms. When she finally calmed down, the two took their desserts and cider into the living room, and talked long into the night as the fire crackled on.


	8. Jackson's Job

Monday morning dawned with MK feeling better than she had in weeks, probably even years, since that time before Jamie's birth. She bit her lip, shaking him from her mind. He was gone, there was no use thinking any more about him, even if it hurt, even if she had fallen in love with him. A chuckle escaped her lips while tears fell from her eyes, if Richard really was Chief Hiccup and her dad, he would have beaten up anybody who hurt his little girl. She wiped her eyes, there were some things that she would have to deal with on her own, not even Sarah May could help. She quickly dressed and went into the kitchen, a note on the counter let her know that Sarah May had left her a plate in the microwave while almond-lined cider was still warm in the pot. She heated her plate and poured herself some cider, sitting down at the table to eat. She thought of the conversation the night before while she savoured her cider, thinking it odd that Jamie did have some similar tastes. She paused, had he come to the same conclusion concerning her and Sarah May, keeping with his theory of _A Faraway Land_? She groaned, it was impossible, wasn't it? She let out a sigh as she cleaned up, she was going to have to make sure he knew that the cold hard facts did not validate his theory, without letting him know what she did for a living. Making sure the door was locked behind her, she went off to kill time until Sarah May and Jamie were out of school.

Before doing anything, she went straight to the hotel for a change of clothes and to let Paula know what the plans were for the week.

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear, you're a guest! You can do what you want! But thank you for telling me. Oh, and one other thing, it's a good thing you came by, Mr. Overland was just in looking for you. He asked me to tell you that he'll be waiting for you at his shop."

"He did? Oh, well, thank you Mrs. Wiggins, I'll head over there now."

"Great, you have a nice day!"

"Thanks, you too, Mrs. Wiggins!" MK found the quaint little shop fairly quickly, it was hard to ignore the bright, white lettering advertising Overland's Antiques and Oddities. Entering the shop proved just how aptly the store was named.

"Ah, MK, I see you got my message," stated Jackson as he came to the counter from the back storage.

"Yes, what is this all about?" she asked, her eyes still wandering over the store. Jackson waited until her eyes were on him before replying.

"Well, I thought you could help me with something."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, MK, I'm not stupid, I know a detective when I see one. And it won't be long before Jamie figures it out, either."

MK's eyes widened as she gulped, "What do you want my help with?"

"Finding someone, of course, several people, actually, but I figured it would be better if we did one at a time."

"Are these people in trouble with you?"

Jackson's gaze hardened, "Just one, and when you find him, just tell me where he is so that I can avoid him, and don't tell him anything about me. As for the others, I, I just need to find them." The look in his eyes pained MK, it was the same look she had seen in the mirror for weeks after giving up Jamie, and losing his father.

"Let's say I do look for these people, what will you pay?"

A grin lit up Jackson's face, "Now we're talking. The first person is worth my silence around Jamie regarding your job. I won't breathe a word about it unless you have given me permission or he's figured it out."

"No money?"

"I know the man is here in this town, it won't be hard, but I dare not search for him."

"You two have a history?"

"A rather interesting and bumpy one, to say the least, I can't say anymore than that."

"Why not? I'll probably figure it out, might as well spill it now."

Jackson gave her a hard look, though there was a glimmer in his eyes, "Because you simply are not ready for it, my dear. The clues will be there, but you won't see them. In fact, I think you refused the biggest one of them all."

MK blinked, shaking her head, "I don't get it."

"As I thought, but that's not important as of now, all you need to know is to look for the one man who loathes the snow."

"OK, and what of the others?"

"Why don't you just search for the one for now?"

"Because I might happen upon a clue for them while searching for him, or at least, you think this man has something to do with the disappearance of one or more of the other people on your list."

Jack's eyes widened before he recovered with a crooked grin, "You really are a detective, a good one at that. However, though I may think that you might find a clue in the whereabouts of the man, I have to inform you that I do not think he has anything to do with the disappearances, but I think he will be or has been framed for it. I know who did the kidnapping, and I would rather him over that witch any day."

"Are the people she kidnapped on your list as well?"

Jackson slowly nodded, "M-my wife, and my son." MK's eyes flew open. "That is one reason why I want you to find the man, the witch who kidnapped them planted evidence in his house, and I nearly fell for it. But that man and I had an argument about something else, and that is why I dare not go looking for him, or for possibly any more clues that witch might have left at his house."

"Wow, but why would you need me to find them?"

"Because the witch said she would hurt them if I looked for them. She doesn't know who you are, so there might be a chance you'll have better success."

"Oh, OK. So, where does he live?"

"I don't know, he's moved."

"Oh . . . so, you want me to look for the man who hates the snow, your wife and child. How old would your son be now?"

"His twenties." MK's eyes bulged. Jackson grinned, "I know, I know, I look pretty darn good for my age, which could be a problem for my son, he might look like he's in his teens when he's twenty-six." Jackson burst out laughing, "Oh man, sorry JJ, but then again, my wife won't be much different. She, she probably looks the same as the day I lost her." Sorrow lined his smile and eyes, MK could tell that it had been as hard on him as much as it had on her.

"Well, alright, was there anyone else?"

"Yeah, but they might be harder than the other three, there's five of them, and I don't even know their names. I do know that there are three girls and two boys, two of the girls are blonde, the third girl and one of the boys have red hair, and the other boy has brown. They'd all be around the same age as my son, but that's all I've got, sorry."

"OK, but why are you searching for the other five?"

"It's time for them to come home."

"Wait, what?"

"My son was the only one kidnapped, the others were sent away for their own good. I can't explain it fully now, you wouldn't understand yet, but something evil came into the town years ago."  
"Wait, something evil? You're not referring to _A Faraway Land_ , are you?"

"And what if I was?"

"It's nonsense, that's what it is!"

"But what if it's true? What if you found out that your son was telling the truth this whole time?"

"What? But . . ."

"And why are you having doubts about it? Come MK, I'm no detective, but even I can tell when someone is second-guessing themselves. You're a detective, solve this mystery, and put it to rest once and for all. Now, for the rest of my story. At the time, it was a blessing that my wife and son weren't here, I didn't have to worry about any of them, but there were a few other children who needed to be gotten out, so the aunt of one of the blonde girls, and the father of the brown-haired boy, split them up and got them to safety. The boy's father came back, but the aunt stayed with her niece and the other blonde girl. We defeated that evil, but then we lost the children, and now you're here, a detective, a seasoned detective, hope has returned to Cedar Grove, just hopefully not that evil with it."

"Oh, alright, fine. But I have to find all of those people for just keeping your mouth about me being a detective?"

Jackson burst out laughing, "Oh no, I will certainly pay, have no fear of that. Why don't you come into the back, perhaps a few of my more pricey antiques and oddities might peak your interest." MK sighed as she followed him to the back, his mood swings were starting to hit a nerve. But once she saw what was hidden in the storage room, she practically forgave him. There were swords, jewels, and an assortment of other items one would typically find in a castle, almost. She did pause when a jeweled bear clip caught her attention. It was lying next to an ornate bow and quiver of arrows and the strangest sword MK had ever seen. It looked like the outline of a jagged sword with two pieces of metal connecting the outline with several buttons and what looked like tiny cartridges lining the hilt. MK didn't know why, but she felt drawn to those, the sword, though strange, almost seemed similar. She picked it up and was surprised by how fairly light it was. She glanced at Jackson, he gave her a knowing smile. She gently placed the sword down and walked towards him.

"What's in the wardrobe?" she asked, indicating the cabinet behind him.

"Oh, this? This is for the ballgowns," he told her, swinging open the doors. She gasped upon seeing the contents of the wardrobe, dresses of every hue and style hung elegantly from the bar.

"Why do you have these dresses here, and not at Fancy Fabrics?" she asked, fingering the gowns.

"Because these are made of real silk, not exactly the safest at Fancy Fabrics. They do take care of children too, you know."

"Oh, right." Again, she felt drawn to something, an apple red dress with brown bears at the bottom. She blinked, it was the exact same shade and style as the one Princess Merida wore to Chief Hiccup's almost wedding. And if Sarah May was in fact Merida, she would fit it just snugly. Then she saw the other dresses, the ones that were similar to the ones Valka, Astrid, and Ruffnut wore. She glanced at Jackson who was playing with a dagger, and shook her head. That was right, Jamie must have come over, saw the dresses, and probably started thinking it was all real because of this. She let out a breath as she looked through the rest of the dresses. In fact, not all of the ones mentioned in Brown Bear of Norway were there, the mauve one, the ice blue one, and the grey one that Heather wore were not in the wardrobe. And there were a few other ones that she didn't recognize from either of the stories she read. There was a brown one that had what looked like a mix of bears and dragons along the hem, a pale green one with trees, and a pale pink one with swans. Closing the wardrobe, she went back to the bow and the strange sword. She picked up the bow and pulled back the string a few times, it was well made.

"You know archery?"

"A bit, took it in high school to better my aim, but I would take a gun any day," she replied, revealing a gun hidden beneath her jacket. "Never leave home without it."

Jackson grinned, "I can imagine. So, see anything you like?"

"Well, maybe the bow and arrows, they look really well made, and I kinda want to tinker with that sword a bit."

"Is that all?"

"For now, at least, don't have a need for dresses as I already have one for the ball, and I don't see anything else I would like."

"Alright, fine by me," shrugged Jackson as he picked up the bow, the arrows, and the sword and placed them in a walk-in safe. "There, they're saved for you for when you keep your end of the bargain."

"OK, so, the man who hates winter, your wife and son, and five other children who are missing, just lost, not kidnapped."

"Exactly."

"Great, well, now I have something to do instead of just meandering around town. Now I can have my eyes peeled for clues while I'm doing it."

Jackson laughed, "Well that sounds like fun, you'll have to tell me all about it sometime."

"How about Saturday? Sarah May wants to take me, Jamie, and Richard to her parents' place and do some horseback riding. You wanna come?" she asked as they went back into the front.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. But who's Richard?"

"The coma patient, they just found out his name, and his wife."

"Oh? Who's his wife?"

"Esther Hawkins."

"Ah, I can see why he'd end up in a coma."

"Wait, you know who she is?"

Jackson nodded and pointed at a dragon figurine, "She came in a while ago and sold me that, along with a few other things. The only reason why I remember her particularly was because of the tantrum she gave over having to wait before I could take care of her and she wanted more money. She is one bad-tempered woman. I had to call in Sheriff Harris so she wouldn't destroy my shop!" MK picked up the figurine and glanced at the price, it was five dollars. Standing next to it was a bear figurine sleeping under an apple tree, it was also five dollars. She brought both to the counter.

"I'll take both of these," she stated, pulling out her wallet.

"Alright." He wrapped them and took the twenty-dollar bill from her, giving her change. "Hope you like them!"

"Thanks Mr. Overland."

"Oh, call me Jack, it's easier. Nice doing business with you, MK, looking forward to your report on Saturday." MK nodded as she walked out the door. "Ooh, getting kinda frosty there," grinned Jack, completely unphased by the chill. His smile wavered as his pulled out a secret drawer at his counter and pulled out a sheet of paper. It read:

 _A spell will come undoing happy endings_

 _But hope lies with the fate of one_

 _A daughter, a blend of Scots and Vikings_

 _Will return to her parents with her son_

 _True love will always find a way_

 _And happy endings will be seen_

 _Again when the children play_

 _Living in fairy tales on Halloween._

 _Like the rainbow, there will be seven_

 _Like the rainbow, they are strong together_

 _One will lead, backed by the others even_

 _Finding the power within each other_

 _To face the dark and colorless spell_

 _And fight with the power of the sun_

 _Keeping others safe and well_

 _All while saving the important one_

 _When the lands are in danger, they shall arise_

 _Taking up their parents' weapons, they will fight_

 _Until the evil is defeated and away it flies_

 _From across time and space they will unite._

"Yup, it's happening soon, Mavis, real soon. Are you ready? I may have the answer to your happy ending, yours, and Heather's."


	9. Getting to Know the Town

MK decided to visit some of the shops that Sarah May already took her to before exploring some of the other stores. Everyone was starting on decorations for Halloween a bit here and there, as MK found out from Erika Paul, the head seamstress of Fancy Fabrics, for the excitement of the coming holiday. Erika showed her the progress of her dress.

"Wow! You've done this much in just a few days?" she exclaimed, looking over the progress of the pale, cardinal red dress.

"Oh, putting the basic dress pieces together is the easy part. The additions and all of the accents are the harder parts. And actually, I'm glad you're here, I wanted to suggest a few changes, if you don't mind."

"Oh no, I'd like to hear, not sure if I'll like them, though."

Erika grinned, "Actually, I think you will. You had stated that you wanted circles at the bottom in a dark brown-green. I was thinking I could do a Celtic knot instead, it looks like this." Erika produced a picture of the Celtic knot she had in mind, it looked like there were winged serpents intertwined in the circle.

"Wow, that's . . . wow. You can do that?"

Erika nodded, "Mmm-hmm, it will take some time, but I can definitely do that, no biggie. So, do you like it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I like it a lot. Thank you!" MK hugged Erika.

Erika grinned, "No problem! If you're still not sure if I can do it, I can show you a few examples of some similar designs."

"Well, I'm sure you can do it, but I would like to see the designs."

"OK, they're in the back, come on." Erika led the way to the back of the store where tons of fabric, thread, buttons, sequins, and other sewing items lay about, eager to be used for a new dress or outfit. Erika passed all of that and took MK into a walk-in closet at the very back.

"Wow, you do dresses and outfits on the side, for fun?"

"Yup, I've always enjoyed sewing and all of that, Alannah tends to take care of the financial process. She's good at that, and I'm good at this, we make a pretty good team."

"Looks like it."

"Ah, here's one! The inspiration for this dress hit me during the St. Valentine's Day preparations, got it finished on the day itself."

"Whoa," breathed MK as she took a good, long look at the cerise gown, with white swans kissing to make a heart with their elegant necks. Their feathers glittered with sparkle, and a wreath of dainty flowers made of faux gems enveloped each neck. "Erika, this is amazing!"

Erika giggled, "Thank you! Just wait until you see the others!" She went back to the hanging rack, and pulled out a pale, creamy yellow dress with green buds and giant leaves that, at first glance, looked like angel wings. "This was partially inspired by Easter. Those are actually snowdrop buds with oak leaves."

"Wow, this is beautiful!"

"There's just one more," she stated, back at the hanging rod. She produced a soft, coral orange gown, the hem dotted with mauve berries and flowers.

"Wow, Erika, you are amazing! Are, are these for sale?"

"Um, not right now, not sure if I want to just yet. Why?"

"Oh, two of my childhood friends, they would love these. One of them is actually a ballerina," MK grinned, holding out the cerise gown.

Erika laughed, "So you thought of Swan Lake, huh? What about the other one?"

MK laughed, "She couldn't dance even if it was to save her life, so she tends to stick to her books. She is really shy too. She would look great in this." She held up the coral gown.

"What about the cream one?"

"Mmm, no, neither of them. Sorry, can't think of anyone else."

"That's alright, I might be able to sell the other two if I can keep this one. I'll still have to think about it, and it would be best if your friends could come here and try them out. I don't want you to get something, only to find out that it won't fit."

"True, well, thanks for showing me these. Looks like my dress is in the right hands."

Erika took the gowns from MK, "Thanks, I'll work on it right away, I want it to be finished before our busy time. Oh, when it's done, would you like me to send it to your hotel room, or leave it here until you need it?"

"Hmm, maybe you should send it to Sarah May Bernard's apartment, I'll double check with her to see if it's alright, but I'll probably be getting ready at her place."

"Very well, I shall send it there unless stated otherwise. Oh, excuse me, it looks like I have a customer. Have a nice day, MK!"

"Thanks, you too!" MK walked towards the door, pausing when she heard Erika address the customer.

"Hello, Mrs. Hawkins, may I help you with something?" MK turned, the blonde woman stood at the counter, dressed in rich clothes. She ducked behind a rack to get a better look.

"Ah yes, I would like a dress made for the Halloween ball, and this is what I had in mind." Esther handed Erika a piece of paper, Erika's eyes widened at what she saw.

"Um, Mrs. Hawkins, I don't have some of this."

"Oh, quite alright, get it as close as you can, you're the best after all."

"Alright, I will do my best. That will be sixty dollars."

"Uh, is it alright if I pay half now and the other half when it's done?"

"Of course!"

"Great!" Esther pulled out her wallet and handed $30 to Erika. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" Esther walked out the door, but from where MK stood, watching, it seemed as though her whole demeanor changed the instant she walked out. MK quietly followed her out, wanting to know where she was going. But all hope of following Esther was dashed as she got into a taupe car and drove off. Sighing, MK decided to check out a few nearby shops before stopping for lunch. She sat by herself at the Goodie Tree Diner, eating her sandwich slowly, going over everything she had seen and heard that day. No clues to the man who hated winter as of yet, but she hadn't checked the rest of the stores, so there might be something there. But she couldn't shake Esther Hawkins from her mind. Something was definitely wrong with that woman. To be honest, she couldn't shake the feeling that something in the whole town was off. Jack seemed to know what was going on, but wouldn't tell her because she wasn't ready, whatever that meant. She also had a sneaking suspicion that Mavis knew, and didn't want her to know at all, meaning she would have to trust Jack for now, until she was ready, whenever that would be. She paused mid-bite, what if Esther was working for Mavis? That would certainly explain a lot, which could also mean that she would find Esther at town hall. Maybe she should head that way, using her status as a tourist as an excuse. She quickly finished eating, paid the bill, and walked back to the hotel to get her car. Driving up Bear Valley Drive, she took note of the other shops that she saw, minus the one area that she had come to know rather well in the five days she had been there. She let out a breath, only five days, and a lot had happened, it seemed, in this quiet little town, in just five days. What could happen within five weeks, before she leaves in November? Well, there was only one way to find out, one day at a time. She parked her car in Sarah May's apartment complex and walked the rest of the way. She decided to duck into Glittering Gewels before making her way to the town hall.

"Well, hello there, welcome to Glittering Gewels, the place where you can watch us make your jewelry before you buy it . . . unless you see something here in the front that's already been made. I'm the owner, George Goodwin, nice to see a new face in town. Where ya from?"

"Oh, I'm MK, and I'm from Las Vegas."

"My, you're a ways from home, aren't ya? How are you liking Cedar Grove?"

"So far, so good, haven't been able to explore everything, I only got in a few days ago."

"Oh, that's alright, we're much smaller than Las Vegas, so I'm sure that you'll get to see everything before you leave. When are you planning on leaving?"

"After the Halloween Ball."

"Oh, excellent, are you looking for some jewelry to go with your dress?"

"Maybe, I'm kinda waiting until it's more complete before I make any final decisions on what to get to go with it."

"Ah, good idea, well, go ahead and browse, get an idea of what you'd like."

"Well, thank you."

"Not at all, I'll be in the back. If you need anything, just holler."

"OK," MK stated as she started to glance around. She glanced up when George opened the door and saw something akin to a smithy on the other side before he closed it again. Shrugging it off, she went back to glancing over the jewelry. A smooth swan caught her attention first, dangling from a shiny, silver chain. Then she saw a perfect leaf cut from a pale green stone looking very elegant set against the bronze chain. Not far from that sat a more white silver chain clutching a pale pink blossom. She glanced around some more, thinking that a pendant matching her dress would be around here. It took her a while, but she finally found it. The Celtic knot had one winged serpent wrapped around it and it looked to be made of a brown-green gem, the gold chain adding sparkle to the piece. But the pieces laid out next to it made her mouth drop. The first one was a silver circle pendant with two crystalline lightning bolts streaking across, the second one was an onyx dragon with its tail wrapped around a bear made of tiger's eye. They matched the descriptions of the necklaces in Brown Bear of Norway and Myrsina, looking exactly how the pictures portrayed them.


	10. Searching for Clues

After MK got over her shock, it wasn't long before she found the bracelet and the ring from Brown Bear of Norway, along with the ring Chief Hiccup used to propose to Princess Merida in Myrsina. Breathing rather hard, she rushed out of the store and went for a walk. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. First the dresses, and now this. Was the whole town playing some big, elaborate joke on her? She glanced up, across the street lay the town hall. She clenched her fists, time to do some detective work of her own. She saw that there was no traffic on the road, and crossed with determination. She took a quick glance over the parking lot and saw Esther's taupe car. A small smile crossed her lips, she was right, Esther was here. Now, it was time to get some information. She paused before opening the door, she had to come up with a good excuse to be here. Wasn't exploring the town enough? She pursed her lips, Mavis was smart, she would figure it out sooner or later. Her eyes widened, her face lighting up. That was it! She could make double sure that Jamie was in fact her son, and what better way to do it than to check the records at town hall! She let a grin spread on her face before wiping it off to enter town hall.

"Hello, I'm Belle Drew. Is there something in particular you're looking for in town hall? If you're seeking an audience with the Mayor, I'm afraid you'll have to wait, she's in the middle of a meeting at the moment."

"Oh, that's alright, I was just looking for some records on her son, Jamie Bennett? I haven't been able to double check that he's really my son."

"Oh! You're MK Bomba! Pleasure to meet you. I can totally understand, Jamie was telling me all about the excitement this morning. Well, come on, I'll show you where his records are."

"Thank you," MK smiled before following the blonde down the hall on the right. The meeting must be taking place down the other hall as the two of them passed large windows showcasing empty rooms and a few open offices. MK caught a couple of names on there, Henry King, judge, Heather Bennett, district attorney, Mavis Bennett, mayor, and, ah yes, Esther Hawkins, secretary. A smirk appeared on MK's face, Esther was definitely working for Mavis, she could almost excuse Esther's behavior because of that. Belle took her to the back room, and by far the largest in the hall. There were bookshelves filled with boxes that, as Belle explained, was filled with medical history, phone numbers, addresses, family relations, where they worked and what times, and anything else that was needed to keep Cedar Grove in order and peaceful. And to keep tabs on everyone, MK thought grudgingly. Belle pulled out Jamie's box for MK and left her to take care of some business in the front. MK thanked her before she left and turned to Jamie's box. There wasn't much to go through in Jamie's box seeing as how he was only nine years old, so it didn't take long before she found his adoption papers and birth certificate among several pictures. She sucked in her breath as tears filled her eyes, that was her signature on the birth certificate and the adoption release paper. Jamie was her son after all. He must have seen her signature and searched for her online before setting out to her apartment in Vegas. A sigh of relief escaped her smiling lips, that was all she needed. And she found out a bit more about Esther Hawkins. Two in one blow! She put back all of the papers, closed the box, and put it back on the shelf where Belle took it from. Sitting next to it was the box for Mavis Bennett, and not far from that, on a lower shelf, sat the one for Sarah May Bernards. She quickly scanned the shelves, finding Esther Hawkins and Jackson Overland fairly quickly and noticed one labeled Valerie Hawkins. She pulled it out for a peek, it was Richard's mother, a farmer. Another paper stated that she had two men in her employment, a Jason Knightly and a James Green. She pursed her lips, there was no box for Richard Hawkins. But there was one box, unmarked, that sat all by its lonesome self on the very last bookshelf, hidden away in a corner. She walked towards it quickly, she didn't know when Mavis would be out of her meeting, and Belle would tell her that she was back here. Her heart was racing when she opened the box, sure enough, it was Richard's, but it held information that didn't sit right with MK. Jamie had been right, Mavis must have known who Richard was the whole time, but didn't bother contacting his wife nor his mother. His mother! MK glanced back at Valerie's box, she needed her information now too. But she turned back to Richard's box, she found out more about him than anyone else seemed to know. He worked at the pet shop, liked to go exploring the surrounding woods with his best friend Anthony Lawrence, would get away as often as he could from his abusive wife, his only relative being his mother, his father having died in a barn fire a few years ago. Then she found a note that nearly stopped her heart, and it was clearly in Mavis' handwriting: _I will keep them separated, forever!_ MK took out a notepad and wrote down everything she found in Richard's box before returning to Valerie's to get her information. She returned Valerie's box to where it had been, made sure her notepad and pen were in her back pocket, glanced over at Richard's to make sure it was back in its place, and went to peek out the door. She could hear Belle working with papers in the front when a phone rang. Belle answered it.

"Hello, Belle Drew speaking, how may I help you? The Mayor? I'm afraid she's in the middle of a meeting, can she call you back? It shouldn't be too long now. Alright then, your name and number please? And the reason for your call? Alright, I will let her know, Mr. Knightly, and she will return at the first chance she gets. Have a good day!" MK heard the phone returned to its receiver. MK quietly closed the door and pulled Jamie's box back out. She set the adoption papers and the birth certificate to the side, took a quick glance over Jamie's medical records and other information before glancing over at the boxes. Jason Knightly's box slid out quietly and MK quickly went through his information. A smile appeared on her face, according to a side note, Jason was the man who hated winter. She paused, this was turning out to be easier than she thought, and the easier a clue was found, she had found out, the more deadly a game she was getting herself into. She jotted down his information before returning his box and going back to Jamie's box. She slowed down to look through the pictures. She got a glimpse of him growing up, he looked so happy, even Mavis looked happy. She could tell Mavis had showered him with love, and he returned it in full, until Sarah May had given him that book. MK paused, Sarah May had said she had given it to him because he was feeling down. So, why was he feeling down? MK sighed as she returned the paperwork and pictures to their box, two mysteries solved, but more seemed to appear the more she dug. Time for another chat with Jamie, just the two of them. Something was definitely going on, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it, and right now, Jamie and Jack were the only two she knew of who wanted to get to the bottom of it. She was beginning to think that the kidnapping of Jack's family was tied in with it all. She returned Jamie's box to its slot again, made sure her notepad and pen were still in her pocket, and walked out. She reached the front desk, Mavis was obviously still in the meeting.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" asked Belle. A few tears fell from MK's eyes. "Hey, MK, are you alright?" Belle had risen from her chair and offered MK some tissue.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that."

"It's alright. You did find what you looking for?"

MK smiled," Yeah, and a bit more, it seems. There were pictures of Jamie growing up in there, I don't know how many times I looked through them. Now I really want to get to know my son better."

Belle went around her desk and hugged MK, "Well, you're here, might as well use as much time as you can to get to know him."

"I plan on doing that, thanks Belle."

"No problem, and if there's any information you need about the town, come on over, I'm happy to help."

"Actually, there is one thing I was wondering about."

"Yes?"

"Could you leave a message for Mavis and ask her if it's alright if I pick up Jamie on her long days? At least, until I leave?"

"Oh, that would be great! I'll give her your message. It's usually Esther who does that, but she has long days when the mayor does."

"Thanks, you have a great day!"

"Thanks, you too!"

MK waited until she was halfway through the parking lot before letting a huge grin show up, "It has already been a pretty good day." She turned her feet towards the opposite side of Bear Valley Drive where the grocery store stood. Figuring she'd get a little something to cook for dinner for herself and Sarah May, she walked over and entered. She walked through the aisles, trying to figure out what she should cook, when a couple of male voices in another aisle caught her attention.

"Ugh, Jason! Stop acting like it's the end of the world whenever winter comes!"

"Or what? Not be prepared when the snow piles up and you're stranded in your house?"

"We haven't had that big of a snowstorm for years, and you know that."

"Well I refuse to be caught unprepared ever again."

"Why do you hate winter?" MK's voice startled them.

"What? Why do you need to know? You shouldn't have even been listening to our conversation!"

MK rolled her eyes, "Kinda hard not to when your voice is so loud that the whole store probably heard." Jason blinked in surprise while James snickered. "So, will you answer my question now? Why do you hate winter?"

"I hate the snow, the ice, the extreme cold, just all of it."

"Including Christmas?" Jason looked at her and looked away, turning to walk away.

"You'll have to excuse my friend's rudeness, he's usually only this grumpy when December rolls around." James gave her an apologetic smile before taking off after Jason. "Hey Jason, wait up!" MK decided not to follow, she would be seeing them at the farm soon anyway, and turned her attention back to dinner. Later that night, as she laid in Sarah May's guest room, her thoughts went back to the way the day had turned out. Finding Jason not long after Jack had sent her on the mission actually wasn't that hard to believe considering how tiny the town was, they'd have run into each other sooner or later, but at least she could tell Jack to stay away from the Hawkins farm when they take Richard to see his mother. MK had let Sarah May know some of what she found out while she was at town hall, only telling her why she looked through Valerie's box and what she found in Jamie's, but didn't breathe a word of what she found in Richard's box. She would let Sarah May in on it, just not yet, she wanted to do a little bit more digging before letting anyone know her suspicions, except maybe Jamie. If he had been suspecting his mom and that had been what was making him sad, that would explain so much. She bit her lip, maybe he had done a lot more research on her than just looking up her address, maybe he did find out that she was a detective and figured he'd take care of two birds with one stone. She sighed as she rolled over, there was just too much to sort through, but she had until Saturday to do some more sleuthing, and she still had to find out if there were any clues to the whereabouts of Jack's family in Jason's house. One day at a time, she told herself before drifting off to sleep, one day at a time.


	11. Looking Through Clues

MK didn't leave her hotel room for most of the next couple of days except for meals and a little bit more exploring. She had several notebooks and notepads out, all scribbled on with notes and ideas. In one notebook, she had everyone she remembered meeting and the names she remembered from the boxes at town hall. She put in the connections, or at least the ones she knew about. There were still people she hadn't met, and connections she knew nothing about, which were a lot. The Bennetts, Hawkins's, and the Bernards were the only ones she really knew for sure as she still couldn't learn from Jack who his wife was, and the only thing she knew about his son was the nickname JJ, which probably meant Jackson Junior. Though there was the possibility that the witch changed the boy's name so as to keep Jack from finding him. She paused, perhaps that's why he never told her the real names of his wife and child, perhaps he thought that the witch had changed both their names! No wonder why he was at a loss, most people searched with names, and he must have come up empty. He must have figured that letting her search from square one, that she would have a better chance of finding them than with all the information he already knew about them. She smiled as she placed a circle around his name and Jamie's, they were definite allies. Neither really liked Mavis, though Jamie was the only one who suspected her of anything. Jack might, but he had never said a word. She continued on and placed a question mark next to Sarah May's name. She knew Sarah May could be trusted as well as Richard, but she wasn't sure if either one would want to take on their illustrious mayor, though she was sure they would back her and Jamie up. She took a breath as she sat back after placing an X next to Esther's and Jason's names, Jack had mentioned that he and Jason had been on bad terms, apparently so bad that Jason changed his name so that Jack couldn't find him, even if he wanted to apologise. And then there was Esther, of the two other times she ran into Esther in the past couple of days, MK just had an instinctive feeling that she wouldn't betray her mayor. And the fact that she was married to Richard could prove to be a problem. She glanced at her watch, it wasn't quite time yet to go pick up Jamie, so she went back to putting in a few more things that she had found out before cleaning up and heading out to pick up her son.

"MK!" Jamie grinned from ear to ear as he climbed into the car.

"What's up, kid? Haven't seen you in a few days, and knowing our luck, a lot tends to happen."

Jamie chuckled, "No, I think that's only you. A lot of stuff happen to you?"

MK shrugged as she pulled out of the parking lot, "Not quite the same as what happened on Saturday, now that was some real excitement."

Jamie snickered, "Yeah, that was. I'm glad you and Miss Bernards found Mr. Hawkins before something bad happened to him, I'd hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't found him in time."

"Well, don't think about it. We got him back safe and sound, no need to worry about things that didn't happen."

"OK. So, did anything interesting happen, though it wasn't as exciting?"

MK chuckled, "I guess so, Erika has been kind enough to show me some of her previous work and the progress on my dress. I went to Mr. Overland's shop and got a few things, he showed me a few cool things he's got in his shop."

"Did he show you everything in the back?" Jamie looked at her with hope and excitement.

"Um, yeah, he did, there's a lot of neat stuff back there."

"So you saw Princess Merida's bow, her dress, and Chief Hiccup's sword?"

"Um . . ." winced MK, she was kinda hoping to avoid that.

"Those aren't the only things that came here from the stories," stated Jamie, not noticing MK's apparent unease. "Mr. Goodwin has all of the jewelry, even the ring that Hiccup proposed to Merida with, and several of Mr. North's toys showcase several of the images of the old ways. Plus there are lots of hints all around the town, dragons for the dragon riders, though they're fake, Scottish references for the clan chiefs, there's even an Olaf in front of the Party Hall. Oh right, you haven't read Snow White and Rose Red yet."

"Huh, that's interesting."

"You believe me?"

"No, I just think it's interesting, and that it has no real connection to the book. But, that reminds me. I went to the file room for your file to double-check if you are really my son, and I found some interesting things."

"What did you find? And you found out that I'm really your son, right?"

MK smiled, "I did, kid. That was definitely my signature on that birth certificate. As for everything else, it will have to wait, not sure if I should spill it to the world." She parked the car in the parking lot of the Goodie Tree Cafe and Diner.

"Oh, right, can't let the enemies know, right? Then you'll never solve it."

She glanced at him as she got out of the car, "You know what I do?"

He nodded as he followed her in, whispering, "Yeah, you're a detective." She glanced at him again, but didn't say anything until after Ellen had left with their order.

"So, how did you know?"

Jamie shrugged, "When I searched for you, I found your resume, 'Detective for hire'. That, and a few newspaper articles too."

"And you don't have a problem with it?"

"Nah, I think it's cool!"

"No, I meant . . . about me not looking for you," MK sighed.

Jamie blinked a few times before realizing what his mother was worrying about, "Oh, no, I mean, you had probably wanted to not find me because giving me up hurt too much, right? It's alright, you probably would have been happier if I hadn't come along and reminded you of that."

MK shook her head, "Actually, Jamie, I'm kinda glad you came along when you did, I was feeling lonely, and you brought me to a place where I feel like I could belong."

"So you'll stay?"

"I didn't say that, but it is a possibility, no guarantees."

"Yes! That's better than not wanting to stay at all!" laughed Jamie. "Oh, uh, MK, um, I've been wondering, Who was my dad? What was he like?" MK paused, she wasn't sure how to tell him. "W-was he a bad man?"

MK shook her head, "No, it's just, it still hurts."

"Oh, sorry."

MK waited a few minutes before replying, "Your dad was a pretty great guy, he was so excited when I told him I was pregnant with you. We had even gone and bought a house, we were so happy. But . . . one day, a freak fire started and . . . he never made it out." Jamie swallowed, the two glancing down when Ellen set their plates down. She didn't say a word and left as quickly as she could, she had heard a bit of what MK had said, and thought it best to give them some privacy. After she left, MK popped the news. "There's another reason why I didn't want to look for you."

Jamie glanced up quickly, a hint of worry in his voice, "Why?"

She glanced at him, "Something was off about that fire, Jamie, they all said that it was started by someone, probably your dad, to get out of some kind of debt or something, only he ended up getting caught in it. But there's a problem, there was no body found, they had put out the fire soon enough before anybody could be turned into ash. And your dad shared everything with me, he wasn't trying to get out of anything. Someone did intentionally start a fire, but I think your dad is still alive, somewhere. Why I can't find him, or why he hasn't contacted me, I don't know, maybe he knew who did start the fire and kept away to protect us. Anyway, the point is, I had wanted to find out more because I did want to find you, but not until I had a real answer for you about your dad."

"Oh, and I interrupted that, didn't I?"

"No, not really, actually, I've kept hitting dead ends. I think taking some time off your dad's case might help clear my brain enough to see the trail that's been right there all along. And to get away from everyone who keeps filling my head with, 'He's dead MK, get over it'."

"You love dad, don't you?" MK nodded. "Then you'll find him sooner or later, I hope sooner because I want to meet him."

MK smiled, "I'm sure he'll want to meet you too. Now let's eat and talk of happier subjects." Jamie grinned and obliged, the topic switching to school and the upcoming ball, until they left. Then MK asked the question that had been on her mind, about Jamie suspecting Mavis.

"So, kid, besides your mom being the witch in _A Faraway Land_ , what else about her seems . . . off? When did you first start suspecting your mom of not being, well, the good person you thought she was?"

Jamie ran his fingers through his hair, "Well, I had found out by accident from Aunt Heather that I was adopted. I mean, I kinda knew all along, but she confirmed it. Then I asked mom to see my birth certificate. She took me to town hall and showed me. When she was busy looking through my box, I took a quick look around. I saw a lot of names I recognised. I asked her why that was, and she told me that it was information on everybody in the town in case of emergencies. I then asked her about the coma patient, I mean, Richard's box. She took a quick glance at it, but told me because no one knew who he was, he didn't have one. I then asked if there was a chance that he was known by anyone on the farms, because I noticed there was an Esther and a Valerie Hawkins, but I knew that Esther was an orphan, so, you know, I started to wonder if he was Valerie's son and suggested it to mom. She knew I was catching on quick, but told me that everyone was asked about it, but no one knew who he was. I pretended to shrug it off, and then I saw your signature. I was curious about what kind of a person you were, and started asking all kinds of questions. Mom seemed relieved that you were taking my mind off the boxes, but it wasn't completely gone from my mind. She told me she would look you up, but she came back with some story about how you had gone to jail for doing drugs or something, I don't remember what. Something didn't sit right with me about her story, so I would take up my free time on the internet at school looking for you. That's when I figured out the real reason why she was scared, you are a detective, a good one, she's afraid you'll get to the bottom of it all, though I beat you to it."

MK sat back, the car off in the hotel parking lot, "So why did Sarah May feel the need to give you _A Faraway Land_? And did you look in Richard's box?"

"No, mom never let me back in the file room, and as for why Miss Bernards gave me the book, well, I was feeling down. I knew that I would need quite a bit of money to get to Las Vegas, but I knew I couldn't go to mom about it because then she'd know I went behind her back to find out the truth. So, when Sarah May came around to talk to me because she noticed that a was dilemma written on my face, she gave me _A Faraway Land_ , hoping to cheer up what she must have thought was a few problems at home. I devoured that book in a week, and I realized by the end what she didn't want us to find out, that the whole town was under a spell! I immediately noticed the similarities between mom and the witch of Myrsina, and Sarah May with Princess Merida. I took Labor Day weekend and compared everyone in the town with the book, mom had business to take care of that weekend, so I spent my time doing that. I even included my friends, and it had turned into a treasure hunt of sorts. Mr. Overland soon got caught up in the excitement after we found Jack Frost, him, and offered a few of his trinkets as prizes to help us with the treasure hunt. Speaking of Mr. Overland, I think he's starting to remember, if he doesn't remember all of it."

"In the book, does Jack Frost have a wife and a son?"

Jamie blinked, "Uh, yes, he did. Rapunzel was his wife, remember? And he did have a son, they named him Jack Junior. What is it?" MK's eyes had grown large, but she wasn't quite ready to believe everything in the book.

"Come with me, you'll understand when I show you." She brought Jamie up to her room and showed him everything she had found. Jamie just about leaped for joy, his mother was going to come to the same conclusion, but he quickly realized that it would have to be in her own way and in her own time.

"Wowee, so Jack Frost asked you to help him find his wife and child? He does remember! But he won't tell you anything else because he knows you don't believe."

"How would he know that?"

Jamie gave her a mysterious grin, "He's good at that, And you also found Justin?"

"Who?"

"Jason Knightly. Justin and Jack used to be good friends, but that all changed when they both thought they were in love with the same woman, but she ended up marrying a prince instead of either of them. Jack wanted to reconcile with Justin because he realized that she wasn't the one for either of them, and they, in a way helped each other out. But Justin wasn't quite ready to forgive him, and left to go off in search of an adventure around the time that Jack found Rapunzel. When Justin came back, Rapunzel and JJ disappeared, Jack blamed him until he found a clue that stated otherwise, the witch who had held Rapunzel in the tower came back for her, and took JJ with her. But the damage had been done, and Justin and Jack had parted ways on bad terms. You'll notice that he pops in and out of the rest of the fairy tales, he's still looking for his family and Justin. He still wants to apologise, but if Justin still hates winter, even as Jason, then he doesn't want an apology yet."

"Which is why if we're going to take Richard to see his mother, that Jack should stay behind."

Jamie shook his head, "No, it'll be fine. Jason doesn't know that Jackson Overland is Jack Frost. I'm sure Jack will be nice, like I said, he does want to reconcile with him, so he should be nice. Let me talk to him before we go, and everything will be alright. Besides, you'll have to worry about the meeting between Richard and his mom, I have no clue what she remembers about their parting, and if he remembers."

MK sighed, "Oh fine, as long as you promise not to talk to anyone about _A Faraway Land_ , while we're at the stables and the farm, is that clear?"

"Can I talk to just Jack about it? If he remembers . . ."

"If he remembers, don't get your hopes up, but yes, you can talk to him about it."

"Yes, thanks mom! I mean, MK."

"Well, I guess you can start calling me mom now that we've established that you are in fact my son."

"Yes!"

"And now that we have established that fact, as your mother, I can tell you to do your homework."

"What?!"

"That's part of the deal, Jamie, don't break your end of the bargain."

Jamie groaned, "Oh fine. I guess I should be thankful it's not much. Though, can you help me with some of it?"

"Like what?" MK asked as she picked up the notebooks so Jamie could have room to work.

"The bigger projects that have to be submitted the day before Halloween. Miss Bernards wants us to choose our favorite fairy tales and to have our costumes ready. The costumes can be from the fairy tale, if they're not, we have to present a story about our choice of costumes. We do this every year, but mom's never let me done it. Something about not letting such nonsense go to my head. Mr. Overland has always let me hang out with him though and I like hanging out with him, it's just . . ."

"You'd like to do it, just once."

"Yeah, can you talk to mom about it?"

"Well, since that's one of my last nights here, might as well make it the last hurrah."

"Yes! Thanks mom!" Jamie gave her a quick hug.

"Alright, but before we get started on that, let's get the rest of your homework done."

Jamie grinned, "Alright." MK made sure he did his homework, helping him wherever needed before taking him home. Before he left the car, Jamie dropped one final piece of advice.

"Mom?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Have you gone to Harmony Gardens or Sandy's yet?"

MK shook her head, "Nope, not yet. Why?"

"I think you should, there's a Linda Green working at Harmony Gardens, I think she's James' sister. She might be the only one in town who knows Jason well. She might be more pleasant when answering your questions."

"OK, and Sandy's?"

"I'm wondering if the Scottish witch and the Sandman remember who they are."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, the witch who specializes in bear transformations is Sandy O'Donnell, and the Sandman is Sandy Stewart. They live on Sands Court next to Bear Lake, and they're the only people who have left Cedar Grove without being hurt in some way. Plus, they have her cauldron in the back."

"Uh, OK. And what sign would I have that they 'remember'?"

Jamie ignored the emphasis, "Tell them that Jack Frost is back and he could use their company. Their reactions will let you know. They were good friends of his, the Sandman was helping Jack look for Rapunzel whenever he went out to bring sleep and dreams."

"Alright, I'll humor you this time."

"Oh, and we should have a code name for this. Oh I know, Operation Ghosthunter! We're getting close to Halloween and we're digging up the ghosts of the past."

MK smiled as she parked her car, "OK, Operation Ghosthunter it is. Oh look, there's your mom, you'd better get in and head to bed. Saturday is only a couple of days away."

"I know, can't wait! Goodnight, mom!" Jamie hugged her.

"Goodnight Jamie, see you Saturday!"

"See ya!" He waved to her before walking into his house, Mavis closing the door behind him. MK pulled out, well, guess she had her plans for tomorrow, see Linda Green at Harmony Gardens and the two Sandy's at Sandy's.


	12. Little Town, Many Secrets

MK paused to take a breath before entering Harmony Gardens, she hoped everything would go as planned. She entered the shop, flowers, vines, and a few shrubs dotted the shop with color. There were a few aisles of gardening supplies and seed packets further ahead, but MK turned her attention to the counter. There was no one anywhere, as far as she could tell. They were probably in the back, taking care of inventory, so MK resorted herself to looking around at the different plants. She was almost glad she had, she had no idea that there were so many! Many of the flowers showcased and sold as seeds were plants she had never even heard of, like gardenia, columbine, soldanella, zinnia, wisteria, layia, starflower, delphinium, cosmos, bluet, snowflake, and bloomeria. All the different kinds of roses was making her head spin as well as the lengthier vine names.

"Hello, welcome to Harmony Gardens. I'm sorry for not coming out sooner, we had a lot of inventory come in," stated the blonde as she approached MK.

MK smiled, "That's alright, I actually figured as much."

"Did you find what that you were looking for?"

"Oh, I'm not looking for anything particular, just browsing. I never knew there were so many flowers, and different kinds of roses."

The blonde chuckled, "Well, basically only botanists, florists, and gardeners know about the various kinds. Most people tend to stick with the basics because it's a lot easier to remember."

"I can see why," chuckled MK. She took a glance at the name tag on the girl. "Linda Green?"

"Yup, that's me, my friend and co-owner, Alexa Leafe, is still in the back taking of some merchandise," replied Linda.

"Oh, that's funny."

"What?"

"I have a friend named Alexa, and I was just thinking of her the other day, but she's not a Leafe," MK grinned.

Linda laughed, "Oh, I see. Are you looking to get something for her?"

MK shrugged, "I'm not sure, she's more of a book person than a gardening person, that would be more of her aunt. Oh, speaking of relatives, are you by any chance related to James Green?"

"Oh, yes, we're cousins. And he's actually our main supplier. Did you two meet?"

"Yes, we did, it was a strange incident, actually."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, I overheard the conversation he was having with Jason Knightly at the grocer's, Jason was pretty loud so I couldn't help but overhear, at least his part. He kept going on and on about the evils of winter, but when I asked him why he didn't like winter, he clammed up and walked away. James didn't get to tell me much as they were leaving soon. Um, do you know why Jason really, really, hates winter? I'm just curious, I've never really met a person who didn't like winter," shrugged MK.

"Oh, Jason hates everything about winter, he hates the cold, he hates the snow, he hates the ice, I'd even go so far as to say he hates Christmas. He's never really festive during Christmas."

"You see him often for Christmas?"

"Yes, our families spend Christmas together every year."

"H-has he lost anyone around Christmas, anyone close to him?"

"Hmm . . . I don't think so, his mother died of malaria in the summer before his tenth birthday. If anything, you'd think he'd hate summer and the heat, but he hates winter. We really don't know why, sometimes winter is the season most looked forward to. Jason is really the only person in all of Cedar Grove who hates winter," Linda shrugged.

"Huh, that's interesting," MK said out loud. Looks like here's another mystery to solve; one at a time, MK, one at a time, she told herself. "Well, thanks for clearing some of that up, I might have to talk to Jason face to face to clear up why he really doesn't like winter. Maybe he has some silly reason for it and doesn't want to let anyone know out of fear of being laughed at. My friend Alexa does the same thing for dancing or parties, she gets chickened out by the prospect of it all and claims that it just isn't her thing. I finally convinced her to tell me her real reason for not liking dancing and parties, and to be honest, it really is silly. I'm not at liberty to go into details, but once I helped her to see just how ridiculous her reasons were, she started to think that maybe, just maybe, she could do it after all. She certainly has gotten a bit better, but she's going to need all the practice she can get for the practice she skipped. And now knowing that she can do it, she's now afraid that she can't because she skipped out on a lot."

"Wow, I hope you can talk to Jason, James is just miserable trying to cheer him up every year, and having to hang out with him most of the time, they work together at the same farm."

MK smiled, she knew which farm, "Oh, I see, then I hope I can help in some way to relieve your cousin of some stress."

"That would be so wonderful, thank you. So, your friend Alexa's aunt, she likes gardening?"

MK nodded, she knew where this was going, might as well go with the flow, "Yes, and I do want to get her something, I'm just not sure what." Linda smiled knowingly and asked MK a few things about Alexa's aunt's garden and helped her select a few flowers based on that knowledge. MK left the store with a pack of gardenia seeds, a pack of wisteria seeds, a book about gardens and gardening, and a book about flowers. The cool part about the garden book was that it was told in a story format while the other book consisted of flower poems, and MK knew that Alexa would just devour them. She placed her purchases in her car, and walked over to Sandy's, the corner drugstore. Upon entering the place, MK noticed that it looked like a mix of the more modern Walgreens with the more older drugstores. The front half was stocked high with shelves of medications, candy, little woodcarvings, and lots of miscellaneous items that weren't found at some of the other stores. MK peeked at the candy aisle, everything was set out, ready for the Halloween trick-or-treaters. Even the woodcarvings were reminiscent of the upcoming holiday with witches on brooms, ghosts, vampires, and the like, all frozen in wood. MK heard the store door open, and saw Dr. Lupei glide softly by her to the counter. He rang a little bell, and an elderly woman came to the counter from the back of the store. MK wasn't near enough to see what was on the other side of the door when the woman opened it, but she did wonder if the cauldron Jamie spoke of was being set up in the back for Halloween.

"Hello Doc, what do you need this fine day?"

"Hello Sandy, I need the regular batch today, and I'm going to start stacking up on candy for Halloween."

"Good idea, get them while we still have them! I'll be right back with the batch, if you don't mind picking out some candy yourself. Sandy and I are kinda busy today."

"I understand, meet back here in, say, ten minutes?"

"That'll work!" Sandy dashed into the back, closing the door behind her, while Lupei walked towards the candy aisle. MK had moved to the other side of the store when their backs were turned, so Lupei didn't see her until he turned, his arms full of candy.

"Ah, MK! How are you doing this fine day? I would shake your hand, but, as you can see, my arms are kind of full."

MK grinned, "Oh, that's alright. I'm doing well this fine day, thank you. Found a few gifts for some friends of mine."

"Ah, wonderful, wonderful! And what, may I ask, are you doing here at Sandy's?"

"Eh, needed to pick up a few essentials," she showed him the packs in her hand.

"Ah, I see."

"Though I am thinking about getting some candy now."

Lupei laughed, "Well, now is one of the best times to get candy, when you have a quite the selection to choose from. The other best time, is afterwards, when everything is on sale, but there's not as much to choose from."

"Right."

"So, I hear from Sarah May that you will be joining her on this expedition of yours tomorrow, along with Jamie, Richard, and Mr. Overland."

"Uh, yes, yes I will."

"Great! I know I can trust Sarah May with the care of my patient, but you never know if she might need help when things go wrong, so I am glad, for her sake and his. I think a bit of open air will do you all good, not just Richard. Though I am also glad that he getting away from that abusive wife of his."

MK blinked, "Sh-she's been back to see him?"

Lupei sighed and nodded, "Yes, when Sarah May wasn't there, or any of us, for that matter. I caught her one day while doing my rounds, had to call the sheriff to get her out because she was endangering my patient. That is another reason why I am glad that the three of you are joining them on the outing, Sarah May can certainly hold her ground against the biggest opponent, you can thank her dad for that, but Esther isn't just big, she's sly as well. And she'd probably have Mavis on her side. But if Jamie tells his mother otherwise, things could go differently, we shall see. But, enough dreary talk, you should enjoy yourselves tomorrow! Especially you since you're on vacation!"

MK laughed, "That I am."

"Oh, done already, Doc? Well, let me ring this up for ya, and then I can take care of you, young lady."

"Oh, actually, I was just talking with Dr. Lupei, I'm not quite finished shopping yet."  
"OK," Sandy shrugged, and quickly totalled up the doctor's items. "That'll be 45.67, Doc." Lupei handed her a $50 bill. "Out of fifty . . . 4.33 is your change. Have a good week, Doc!"

"Thank you Sandy, see you next week!" The two waved as the Doctor walked out the door.

"Alright, miss, if you're not ready right now, I'll head to the back. Just ring the bell when you're ready."

"Thanks." Sandy went to the back, and MK did catch a glimpse of a cauldron, it looked like it was boiling something. MK shrugged as she went back to the shelves, maybe they did have the cauldron set up all year round, and used it for making homemade medicines and candy. That would certainly explain a lot. She went back through the store, adding a couple of bags of candy and a wooden haunted house to her pile. She rang the bell when she returned to the counter. This time, a golden-haired man about the same size as Sandy came to the front with her.

"Alright, you ready this time, miss?"

"Um, yeah," stated MK, glancing at the little man.

"OK, your total is 23.74." MK gave her a couple of bills. "Out of twenty-five . . . your change is 1.26." Sandy handed her the change.

"Thank you," MK said as she pocketed the change. She took her bags off the counter and was preparing to leave when Jamie's voice came into her head. Hearth pounding, she turned back to the counter. She really did not want to do this, but it might be the only way to prove Jamie wrong about this whole fairy tale conspiracy idea of his. "Um, Jamie wanted me to tell you that Jack Frost is back and he could use your company." MK's spirits sank at their reaction. At first their eyes had widened, and then they burst out into silly grins and began jumping about.

"He's back, he's back!" laughed Sandy with excitement, her male companion just bouncing up and down, the biggest smile of pure joy on his face. "Wait! How do you know he's back?"

"I-I don't, my son Jamie told me to tell you that." The golden-blond tapped Sandy's shoulder and did some sign language. Sandy did some thinking before replying in sign language. "Um, can someone please tell me what's going on? Was this some sort of joke?" Sandy's co-worker shook his head and did a few more signs for Sandy.

"Sorry, my friend Sandy here says that we can't tell you anything."

"What? Why not? I'm . . ."

"Because you don't believe. And until you believe, you can't see anything."

"What? Jackson Overland said something similar to that."

Sandy let out a gasp, "He is back. We must see him tonight!"

"But what? What do I need to believe?"

"You already know what you need to believe in to see what's in front of you. But I can tell you this, the fate of this town rests on your belief. So, unless you are willing to open your heart and your mind to believing in what you deem is impossible, this town is doomed."


	13. Mother & Son

Jamie got to spend Friday night with MK at the hotel, his homework having been done on time for the week. They spent their evening going over plans for the next day, including several setup for scoping out Jason's house, not far from where the main farm was on the Hawkins land. But Jamie did get a promise out of MK that they would let Jack know everything before going through with any of the plans, as he rightly put it, they wouldn't know if they might need some help keeping Jason away long enough. Before Jamie went to sleep, he glanced at the moon, and made a wish. Closing his eyes, he smiled, this was one plan that should work just fine.

The two got up early on Saturday morning and made sure they had everything before hauling their bags to the front door and getting some breakfast. It wasn't long after they finished breakfast that a car horn resounded outside the hotel. Grabbing their bags, they rushed out to meet their ride. Jack was driving, with Sarah May and Richard in the back. MK and Jamie dumped their bags into the trunk before hopping into the car. Jamie got into the back next to Richard, leaving MK in the front with Jack.

Jack feigned a pout, "What? Jamie, why are you in the back? I thought you liked me!"

"I do! It's just, sometimes I need a little break, that's all."

"Hey!" Everyone laughed, but Jamie grinned and gave Jack a wink, Jack grinned and winked back. "Oh, fine, all party poopers and pipsqueaks accounted for?"

"Hey!" came the unanimous response from Sarah May, MK, and Jamie.

"Uh, who would be the party poopers, and who would be the pipsqueaks?"

Jack just laughed, "Guess that is everybody. Bear Stables, here we come!"

"Bear Stables?"

"Yeah, the horses have to bear us," quipped Jack, putting an emphasis on the word bear.

"And we have to bear with you," returned Sarah May.

"Hey! No talkback allowed in this car, especially to the driver, or I can drop you off right now and make you walk the rest of the way."

Sarah May snorted, "Why bother? You know I can beat you in a wrestling match. Besides, I don't think you'd want to let Dr. Lupei know that I wasn't in the car with Richard. And he cannot be dropped off with me, either."

"Ugh, why do you always know exactly how to get around everything?"

"Because you're not much different from my brothers." Jamie and Sarah May glanced at each other and burst out laughing. Jack shook his head, but he was grinning from ear to ear. MK glanced back and paused, she saw the look on Richard's face as he watched Sarah May. It was certainly relieved, relieved to know that Sarah May joked around with family, relieved to know that she wasn't seeing anyone, relieved to know that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance with her. MK blinked with surprise as the emotion on his face went from relief to hope and finally to something akin to love. Had Jamie been right about them as well? But how would he have known that, without the book? MK breathed with relief when Jack interrupted her thoughts with telling everyone to call him Jack, it was easier. The subject was changed to how to handle a horse. Sarah May, having grown up with them, told them everything they would need to know about how horse-riding works, how to interpret the signs the horse is giving, and letting them know that they were basically putting their lives at the senses of the horses. She told many a tale of how horses had saved lives, just by realizing that something was wrong and listening to that instinct. She mentioned that the whole scene in _Black Beauty_ when Black Beauty saved his master by refusing to cross the flooded bridge was pretty accurate. They heard more about horses until they reached the stables, where a woman, a man, and three boys with the same red curls as Sarah May stood waiting for them.

"Welcome to Bear Stables!" the man practically shouted with delight as the five climbed out of the car.

"Hey, Mr. Overland!" one of the triplets grinned and waved at Jack.

Jack grinned and waved back, "A little early to be trick-or-teating this year, don't you think?"

The triplets' mouths dropped, "What? How'd you figure it out?"

Jack laughed, "I know you three way too well."

"Mom, Dad, this is MK Bomba, she's Jamie's real mother . . ."

"Really? Oh, Jamie, that's wonderful, you've found her!" exclaimed Mrs. Bernards, giving MK a quick hug.

"And this is Richard Hawkins, he's the coma patient I've told you about. These are my parents Arthur and Elvira Bernards."

Arthur shook hands with Richard, "Pleasure to meet ya, lad, glad to see you're on your feet, er, so to speak. Nice peg, how'd you get it?" Arthur indicated Richard's missing leg, showcasing his own missing leg.

"I-I don't remember, I don't remember anything about my life in Cedar Grove. I'm still wondering if Richard Hawkins is really my name."

"Well, a mother will always recognise her child," Elvira smiled knowingly. MK and Sarah May glanced at each other.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"You really don't know much, do ya, lad? We get most of our oats from the Hawkins farm, just a horse ride away to the north of here."

Richard's mouth dropped open, "Th-there's a Hawkins farm?"

"Yup, you wanna see?"

"I do suggest that you rest and have some lunch before you head out," Elvira glanced at her husband.

Arthur grinned, "Right, go ahead and bring your bags in. Martha's got your rooms all set up. If you don't mind, we've got you set up with Sarah May in her old room," Arthur explained to MK as they showed them in.

"And the guys?"

"Jamie's sharing with the triplets, and Richard will share with Jack in his old room." MK and Richard glanced between Jack and Sarah May.

Sarah May whispered, "Jack was a wandering orphan, we were only one of two families who would let him in. He'd go back and forth between us and the Forsters, it all depended on his mood."

"Ah," stated MK before entering the room she was sharing with Sarah May. Sarah May paused at the door, Richard didn't follow Jack into the room they were sharing.

"Richard, what is it?"

"Oh, uh, it kinda explains a lot. Y-you, you only think of him as a brother?"

Sarah May smiled, "Of course, I could never think of him as anything else. You really should stop worrying about it."

"I-I'm not worried about it, I-I was just, just curious, is all."

"Mmm-hmm, get your bag in your room, mom and Martha will have lunch ready in a few minutes. You're going to need to get up your strength if you want to head over to the Hawkins farm."

"Y-you knew, when you heard my name . . . this is just some way to get me over there to verify my identity."

"I thought you wanted to know for sure?"

"I-I do, it's just, I-I don't know why I left, or if she'll take me back."

"I think she will."

"What makes you say that?"

"My mom did," Sarah May smiled before entering her room. Richard watched her back until the door closed behind her before finally entering his room. Jack was lounging on the top bunk when he entered.

"So, you two finished flirting?"

"Wh-what? We, we weren't flirting!"

"Dude, it's written all over your face, you totally have the hots for Sarah May. And I know her well enough to know that she likes you back."

"She, she does?"

"Oh yeah, man, you've got it ba-ad."

"No I don't, I'm supposed to be married."

"Mmm-hmm. Then picture your wife, a lovely girl, her eyes as blue as the sky. You can't help but get lost in them, you feel like you're flying through those eyes, and you never want to land. Instead of getting out, you get closer to her, you start to smell her perfume, the shampoo in her hair, she smells like a brisk, autumn day. You lean in, kiss her lips ever so gently, she tastes like crisp apples. Now, hold her picture in your mind, hold it there, look over every detail. What color is her hair?"

"A reddish-orange mound of lush curls . . . I mean . . ."

"Oh, be quiet, why would you want to be with Esther anyway? She's not your type. Don't you just feel like Sarah May completes you?"

"M-maybe . . . ugh, maybe going to the Hawkins farm is a bad idea."

"Why?"

"I kinda don't want to remember," sighed Richard. He gave a little yelp when Jack somersaulted off the top bunk and landed on the floor like a cat. He turned to Richard, all joking gone from his eyes.

"What if the memories you remember aren't your real memories?"

Richard stared at him, "What are you talking about?" Jack rose and walked to his pack, taking out a book, the title _A Faraway Land_ in big, bold, shimmering letters. He placed it in Richard's lap and flipped to a picture of a wedding. Richard's eyes just about bulged out of his head. There he was, getting married to Sarah May! Mr. And Mrs. Bernards were in attendance, smiling radiantly, even Jack and Esther were there, with huge smiles on their faces! The rest of the faces were unrecognisable to him, but there were two faces missing.

"Wh-where are MK and Jamie?"

"Oh, they weren't born yet, though MK will be soon. She's their daughter." Jack pointed at the happily married couple. Richard glanced between the picture and Jack.

"You're kidding right?"

Jack shook his head, "This time, I'm not."

"Lunch is ready!" The loud announcement startled them, and Jack closed the book on the happy picture. Richard tried to grasp at when Jack pulled it away.

"We'll talk more about it tonight. For now, not another word about it. And remember, whatever you remember of your past life with Esther, it's all fake. Those memories were planted in your mind to keep you from your happy ending with Sarah May." Jack got up from picking up the book and looked sternly at Richard. "Do I have your word that you will not speak of this, even if your Cedar Grove memories come to you?" Richard nodded slowly, but with honest determination. Jack's grin returned, "Good, let's go eat."

"B-but why are you telling me this now?"

Jack glanced at him as they walked out the door, "So that you're not thinking that the memories that may come to you are your real memories. You've been in a coma in the twenty-six years that Cedar Grove has been here, you couldn't have had any memories before that, now could you?" Richard's mouth dropped open, but neither man said anything. Almost immediately after lunch, the group set out for the Hawkins farm. The group chatted gaily, except for Richard, Jack's words still echoing in his ears. He glanced around at the scenery as they drew closer to the farm. Jack seemed to be right, something here should click if he had spent his childhood here. Richard dared a glance at Jack, talking away with Jamie, he was still sure that something would 'activate' the false memories, in which case, Richard would have to make sure he didn't dwell on them for too long.

"Hey! What are you doing here? You're trespassing!" growled a red-haired man as he grabbed Richard's reins.

"Jason, wait! Look! It's the girl from the grocery store!" shouted another man, rushing forward to restain Jason.

MK feigned surprise, "Why, it is you! Fancy seeing you two out here! Do you work for Mrs. Hawkins?" The two men glanced at each other before James replied.

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"I-I 'm Richard Hawkins." Jason dropped the reins and scrutinized Richard.

"Oh yeah? You're here claiming to be Val's little boy?" sneered Jason.

Richard shook his head, "I-I'm not here claiming to be anyone. I just want to know who I really am. I don't remember a thing. I don't even recognise anything here."

"He's been in a coma, give him a break, alright?" broke in Sarah May. Jason shot her a glare, he didn't really care.

A woman's voice broke the tension, "James, Jason! What's with all the ruckus? What are you doing harassing these people?" She paused when she saw Richard, her eyes flitted over his frail form as he dismounted from his horse. Sarah May immediately dismounted and took the reins from Richard, all while keeping an eye on him. "R-Richard?"

"M-Mom?" The woman touched his face gently, her fingers tracing his little scar. She took his head in her hands and peered into his green eyes.

"I-it's really you," she whispered, a bit questioningly.

"I-I think so, I don't remember anything. Esther says I'm her husband, Richard, b-but, I'm not sure . . ."

"But a mother never forgets." Richard glanced at her, tears forming in her eyes. "Yes, you are my son, Richard." She hugged him, and he slowly returned the hug. A loud thunderclap interrupted the happy moment, startling everyone.

"Whoa, those clouds came in fast," muttered James.

"We'd better get inside quick, come on, my house isn't far from the barn. We'll get the horses settled and duck into my house," sighed Jason, leading the way. Jamie and Jack took up the rear, the two glanced at each other and grinned, Jamie's plan was going smoothly.


	14. Saturday News

They quickly got the horses into the barn and raced to Jason's house, just as the rain came down in torrents. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky from time to time, followed by the booms of thunder that rattled the house. Sarah May used Jason's phone to call her parents to let them know they found shelter from the rain and were safe. Valerie and Jason set about getting some hot beverages for everyone, Richard and Jason were a bit curious about the three who had almond in their apple cider. Jack and Jamie just smiled knowingly at each other. Talk was mainly centered around the childhood of Richard as Valerie shared many memories. Richard laughed at his own escapades, but none of them clicked. He cast a sideways glance at Jack, he wanted his memories back, but only the ones from _A Faraway Land_. It was by Sarah May reading a story that he came out of the coma, perhaps if he read more of it, something would click, and he would remember. All of a sudden, Jason went to talk to Jack.

"You sell odds and ends at your store, right?"

Jack blinked in surprise, but nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"I've got a few things I've been wanting to get off my hands, but no one wants to take them. Hang on a sec." Jason took off down the hall while Val was in the middle of a story about Richard's first fishing trip with his father. Jack paid no mind as Jason came back with the items. MK noticed his eyes grow slightly larger when Jason showed them to him. They were a few Christmas ornaments and a crystalline sculpture. The ornaments were a lantern, a snowflake, a golden flower, and a candle, while the sculpture looked like a lantern with a lit candle on the inside and the flower blooming from the flame with two snowflakes as leaves. They were rather breathtaking, but MK noticed the gentle care with which Jack handled them as he looked them over ever so slowly, and with love in his eyes.

Jason cleared his throat, "So, um, can you take them."

"The ornaments, definitely, let me finishing looking over this sculpture and I'll let you know in a sec." Jack looked over it again before nodding his head, "Yup, I'll take all of them."

Jason smiled with relief, "Great."

"It'll only be ten dollars."

"Huh? What?" Jason's face wasn't sure if he should be more surprised or angry.

"Yeah, I can only give you ten dollars for the lot."

Jason grinned sheepishly, "Oh, um, no, that's fine, you can have them for free."  
"Are you sure?"

"Positive, I've always had them for some reason, and they've never made me feel happy. I always seem to hate winter even more when I look at them, but, now, I don't know, I think I might be able to enjoy winter this year."

Jack grinned at him, "Well, that's good, winter's not all that bad."

Jason blinked, "You like winter?"

Jack laughed, "Oh yeah, can't stand the heat of summer, ugh. I'm OK in spring nad autumn, but winter seems to be the best for me. I mean, I am OK with summer, I just can't stand the heat, is all."

"Huh, that's interesting, never met someone who didn't like the heat of summer, much less unable to stand it. You physically cannot stand the heat?"

Jack shook his head, "Nope, some days it gets so bad I wonder if I'm melting like a snowman."

"Or a wicked witch."

"That was from water, not heat, there's a big difference."

"Oh, what a cruel, cruel world, I'm melting!" Jamie squeaked in a bad imitation of the wicked witch of the west. The three laughed, Jack the only one noticing that MK returned from the direction Jason had taken to get the items. She gave him a wink, and turned her attention back to Valerie's stories, just as Val decided to answer Richard's question about his father.

"H-he died, in a barn fire." The room became instantly quiet, all cheerfulness seemed to vanish. Val glanced at Richard, "You were devastated, because you felt that it was all your fault that the fire started. It was also part of the reason why you left the farm, you couldn't stand it knowing your father wasn't going to come out of the house the next morning, ready to teach you more about farming and fishing." Valerie sighed as she placed her hand on Richard's shoulder, "Richard, if you do remember anything about that day, I want you to know, whatever you think, whatever you feel, it wasn't your fault. Remember that, please, it wasn't your fault. " Jack could tell that Richard was straining to remember anything about that day, but he was relieved when Richard came up empty.

"I-I'm sorry, I still don't remember, but I'll keep that in mind," he told his mother, smiling sadly at her.

She hugged him, "Thank you, I've already lost your father, and I nearly lost you too, it seems. I don't want to lose you again, alright?" Richard just nodded before his face dug into her shoulder. When they separated, their eyes glistened with tears.

"Hey look! The rain's stopped!" Jack let out a sigh of relief, thank you Jamie. Everybody went about cleaning up, Jason even going so far as to take care of Jack's cup so that he wouldn't have to worry about possibly breaking his new merchandise. Jack smiled as he walked outside, there was a chance after all that he could still make it up to Jason. His smile dimmed though, but what would happen when he does remember? Jack shook his head, it would have to wait until MK took care of everything. The group made their way over to Val's house, the small mansion looking like something out of a fairy tale, now glistening in the sunlight after the rain. Valerie took the group on a tour of the house, showing them various pictures of Richard in his youth and showing pictures of his deceased father, Steven. They were pictures of a happy family before the tragedy that tore them apart. Jack, however, had to shake his head in disbelief, Mavis outdid herself in reconstructing everyone's background, even down to the last details like childhood photos and the fake memories. He smiled as Valerie took them to Richard's room, come Halloween, that would all change.

Valerie invited the rest of the Bernards over for dinner, the whole group celebrating the return of Richard. Richard smiled awkwardly for most of the time as they shared in stories of the old days of Cedar Grove, he, Jamie, and MK basically the only ones who didn't know anything about what had happened. Jack did know, but for the most part he refrained from partaking in it as he refused to dwell on any fake memories. After they returned to the Bernards', including Richard, who still had to follow doctor's orders, MK, Jamie, and Jack had a quick pow-wow in the room shared by MK and Sarah May.

"Did you find anything else?" Jack asked, though he knew there was nothing else.

MK shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure if I did find anything else, I don't know where the ornaments or the sculpture would have been. But, I did take a few pictures, and, I think you should take a look at this." She handed him the phone, Jamie peering over his shoulder as he look at the picture. It took a little while, but then he saw it, it looked like the image of a witch stealing away a young, blonde and her baby from their home. It looked like it had been painted on the very back of the closet ceiling, where no one would think to look. MK went to the next picture, and Jack uttered a shaky gasp, a tall, dark man and the witch were separating the baby and the mother. The next picture showed the witch hiding the blonde in a house where an orange-haired knight lived, and finally, a picture of the blonde crying herself to sleep in a dark cave. Jack's hands quivered with rage, Rapunzel had left him the whole story, even of where she was being taken. Now, to just find her, but he was going to need help, and not just MK's.

"So, they were there," whispered Jamie.

"To plant the evidence," muttered Jack, his voice harsh with grief and anger.

MK nodded as she took her phone back, "So it would seem, your wife's pretty smart, putting that in a place that even her kidnapper wouldn't think to look. And we also have somewhere to start looking, a cave. Are there any caves around here?"

Jack thought for a bit, "Not in the immediate vicinity, there might be some in the national reserve, or on the other side of Bear Lake, but I don't know much about the vicinity of that area. I've never left Cedar Grove."

Jamie gasped, "Maybe the Sandys might know! They have!"

Jack's eyes widened as a grin formed on his face, ""You're right, Jamie! I'll have to talk to them as soon as we get back!"

"Alright, then I'll check in with you on Monday morning to see how that turns out."

"Sounds great!"

"Oh, and Jamie?"

"Yeah, mom?" Jack grinned even wider, Jamie was calling her mom for real.

"It's past your bedtime."

Jamie groaned, "Oh mom! Come on! Just another five minutes, please?"

"As long as you spend those five minutes getting ready for bed," replied MK.

Jamie sighed, "Oh fine," before stomping off.

Jack stretched, "Well, I'd better get going as well so you and Sarah May can head to bed and I can make sure Richard goes to bed. Don't need him staying up all night trying to wreck his mind by trying to remember everything."

"Right, good night."

"G'night! And thanks, MK, superb detective work you did back there."

MK smiled, "Thanks, it's what I do, after all." Jack grinned and walked out, right as Sarah May walked out of the room he was sharing with Richard, a worried look on her face.

"Hey, SM, what's up?"

Sarah May glanced up at the old nickname, sighing, "He's not going to sleep, he's still trying to remember everything."

Jack rolled his eyes, "Go figure. You head off to bed, I'll handle this. I've got an idea."

"Oh?"

"I'll let you know in the morning if it works, alright?"

Sarah May smiled, "OK, thanks Jack." She gave him a quick hug before entering her room. Jack bounded into his, finding Richard on the bottom bunk, staring out at the sky.

"Jack? Why can't I remember anything? I-I know that Val is my mother, but why can't I remember anything that happened? I felt like I was a stranger listening to stories that I was supposed to know," stated Richard when he noticed Jack. Jack went back to his pack and pulled out _A Faraway Land_. Richard didn't pretend that he wanted the book badly. He took it from Jack eagerly and almost greedily when he handed it to him.

"Read Brown Bear of Norway, Myrsina, and Ever After," ordered Jack. Richard didn't say a word and just began reading. Jack changed into pajamas and scaled the ladder into the top bunk. He laid down and sighed, looking at the ornaments in the pale moonlight streaming through the window near his bunk. What MK found meant a lot, his family was still alive, and his wife had left clues. He glanced at the moon and held up the ornaments one by one, showing off Rapunzel's talent. Letting out a soft sigh, he hung the ornament off his headboard and turned to go to sleep when he heard Richard let out a gasp. Jack flung off his covers and peered over the bed at his bunk mate. Richard's green eyes turned cold upon seeing Jack.

"Come down," he ordered. Jack blinked, noting the difference in his voice.

"And why would I do that? I'm not at anyone's service . . . remember?"

Richard gritted his teeth, "I had you locked up in a dungeon, and now we're sharing a room?" Jack nearly fell out of his bunk, he was laughing so hard.

"Ah well, guess this is the thanks I get for going out of my way to save your daughter without asking for your permission first."

"Y-you what?"

"How else would you have known about the spell in the first place? I used my 'undercover' job for Mavis to let you know, and to make sure you got Mary Katherine to Earth before the spell hit so she could reverse it, alright? Man, I've been helping you all along, and you still don't trust me?"

"You were helping Mavis!"

"Shh . . . keep it down, your whole family's sleeping, Sarah May doesn't remember, and your daughter doesn't believe. Your grandson on the other hand . . ."

"MK's my daughter?" Jack nodded. "And Jamie is her son?" Jack nodded again, before crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Um . . . who's Jamie's father?"

Jack glanced at him, "MK hasn't given his name, but I have a theory about that. Once the spell is broken, we'll go searching for him. We've got to get him here before things get worse."

"Get worse? It's bad enough as it is! I'm supposed to be married to Astrid, my own wife doesn't remember me, and my daughter doesn't believe that I'm her father! How could it get any worse than that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe having your family being snatched from right under your nose and separated so that it'll be harder to find them?" Richard gulped. "Or the evil that's still going to descend on us that the seven will have to face?"

Richard's eyes widened, "I thought that was fulfilled by the fairies!"

Jack shook his head, "Nope, Laverna is still alive, and she might come back leading the evil that Manny was referring to in the prophecy. But we won't know for sure until it gets here." Jack sighed, "He added another four lines to the prophecy after that whole incident, so I know it wasn't them."

"What are they?"

"Mind if I rattle off the whole poem?"

Richard shook his head, "Might as well include the prophecy that told you my daughter would break the spell."

Jack shrugged, "Alright. Like the rainbow, there will be seven, like the rainbow, they are strong together; one will lead, backed by the others even, finding the power within each other. To face the dark and colorless spell, and fight with the power of the sun; keeping others safe and well, all while saving the important one. When the lands are in danger, they shall arise, taking up their parents' weapons, they will fight; until the evil is defeated and away it flies, from across time and space they will unite."

"That . . . doesn't quite sound like Elina and the others."

Jack nodded, "I know. Now, for your daughter. A spell will come undoing happy endings, but hope lies with the fate of one. A daughter, a blend of Scots and Vikings, will return to her parents with her son. True love will always find a way, and happy endings will be seen; again when the children play, living in fairy tales on Halloween."

Richard sucked in his breath, "Mary Katherine."

"Right, and if I hadn't helped Mavis, I wouldn't have been able to keep her away long enough for you to get your daughter through the door. She wanted to attack the instant she had the spell ready, a week before Mary Katherine was born."

"But you could have stopped it."

"Really? Ever tried stopping a prophecy, Master Chief? Everything you do to stop it becomes the very steps that lead to its fulfillment."

"Oh, wow, um, sorry then, about the whole dungeon thing . . ."

Jack shrugged, "It's alright, it gave me time to engrave your daughter's name into my brain so that the next time I heard it, I would remember everything and help her prepare for breaking the spell. But that's proving to be a bit harder than I anticipated. Jamie has been helping me try to brainstorm with ways to help her believe, but we haven't been able to come up with anything as of late. You wanna help?"

"Get my wife and daughter back? Wouldn't you?"

Jack grinned, "Glad to have you on the team. Remember what your dad died from?"

Richard's eyes saddened, "Y-yeah, a blast from Toothless when he was under Drago's control which . . . well, nevermind. Why?"

Jack grinned, "Just wanted to be sure you actually remembered, is all. Glad to have you back, Hiccup."


	15. Like Pieces in a Puzzle

When the group returned to town Sunday evening, there were five glowing, healthy faces that greeted their beds. Jamie fell asleep immediately, tuckered out by the day's adventures. The four adults stayed up a bit longer, their thoughts dwelling on the revelation of many truths. MK pondered over the developments on Jack's case, Jack thought of the images his wife had left behind for him, Richard remembered well his life and adventures before Cedar Grove, while Sarah May blushed at the memory of Richard stealing a kiss at the hospital before they left. That following week was fairly quiet, though a few eyebrows were raised at Jack's frequent visits to Richard, sometimes accompanied by the two Sandys. Dr. Lupei merely thought it progress that Richard was spending time with more friends, though what was actually happening was that the four were conspiring a plan to get MK to believe in the fairy tales before Halloween as well as coming up with ways to get out of Cedar Grove, in one piece. Jamie was right, no one had ever made it out of Cedar Grove, most of the people who ever tried to leave were often times seriously hurt, and they made up most of the patients at the hospital. Jack was worried about what changes would be made once the spell was broken as he doubted there wouldn't be repercussions for attempting to leave since none of them, besides MK and Jamie, were from this world, the only other three capable of leaving were the two Sandys and Mavis. The only explanation they could come up with was that since the three had kept their memories since the beginning of Cedar Grove, they would have no fear of losing them again. Jack did not want to attempt going anywhere near the boundary until they had come up with a way to get memories back, and someone to test it on.

Meanwhile, Esther had noticed a slight change in Richard, and reported that and Jack's visits to Mavis. Mavis only figured it had something to do with Richard and Sarah May getting rather close over their weekend trip, and asked Dr. Lupei to limit Sarah May's visits, if not make them stop. Dr. Lupei did as she asked, only letting Sarah May with Richard if someone else was there, usually Jack or Dr. Lupei. MK wasn't oblivious to the whole thing, nor was Jamie, though both thought it strange in different ways.

"Don't tell me it's because she's keeping Princess Merida and Chief Hiccup separate. You're mom is afraid of losing control of the town."

"Exactly, mom, if she loses control, then everyone can have their happy endings back. She's fighting to keep control so she can keep what she thinks is her happy ending."  
"Do you think she'll get a happy ending?"

"Yeah, Aunt Heather wants her to have a happy ending and has even given up the search for her own happy ending until mom has given up her unnecessary revenge on Princess Merida and Chief Hiccup."

"Aunt Heather?"

"Yeah, mom's younger sister, she's way nicer than mom, but she refuses to give up hope."

"What kind of a story is this where the bad guy gets a happy ending?"

"Oh, mom's not the real bad guy, her mother, Frieda, is the real bad guy. There's some good in mom, both Aunt Heather and I can sense it, it's buried under a lot of misguided trust in Frieda's word, that's all."

MK rolled her eyes, "Of course, so you just wanted me to come and take away everything from her mom so her eyes could be opened?"

Jamie gave her an odd look before glancing away, shrugging, "If that's what it takes, then I guess so."

MK sighed, "OK, new line of thought, Mavis isn't all bad, she just needs a wake-up call."

"Basically."

"Alright, well, enough of that, homework time."

"Took care of most of it already, still have to work on the fairy tale and the costume. Can you help with that, even talking to mom about it?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to her when I drop you off, how's that sound?"

Jamie grinned, "Great, thanks mom! Now, um, should I base the costume on a fairy tale, or should I do something different?"

"Hmm . . . I don't know, have you decided on a fairy tale yet?"

Jamie shook his head, "Not really, everybody uses the same fairy tales every year and bases their costumes off their fairy tales, I kinda want to do something different, both fairytale and costume. Do you know of any fairy tales that are not so well known?"

MK shook her head, "Sorry, kid, only know the well-known ones. But you know what, I haven't been to the library yet, so maybe I'll go tomorrow and look to see what they've got."

"Great, thanks! Hey, have you decided on what your costume will be?"

"Probably another reason why I should head to the library, get some ideas. You want to match?"

"Sure! If it's something you like."

MK grinned, "Oh don't worry, I'll make sure it is."

Jamie glanced at her, "Just nothing pink for me."

"Oh, OK."

"Mom!"

"OK! Fine! No pink for Jamie, all the more for me," she grinned and winked. The two burst out laughing.

MK went to the library the next day, as she said she would, but she had realized that there was another reason why she needed to go. It wasn't just for ideas for Halloween, it was to double-check the history of the town. Some of the things that were talked about while they had been at the Hawkins's didn't seem to fit. Sometimes the stories were too off, or they were too similar, and sometimes, the stories got changed, in just one sitting. But she figured on playing it safe and looked for the history while searching for fairy tales. The head librarian, Maria, showed her to the fairytale section and the Cedar Grove history section, not far from each other. MK browsed through the books there, there weren't many to choose from in either section. MK didn't find much, either in the way of fairy tales, or in history. It was all recent history, to be exact, Mavis was named the mayor in all of them. She next went to the computers, searching the internet for fairy tales and Cedar Grove. The internet proved more productive for fairy tales, but found nothing for Cedar Grove. No matter how hard MK looked, she couldn't find it. Every single online map said that the area she was looking for had nothing but an unnamed road instead of Bear Valley Drive and a tiny lake. Frustrated with the dead ends with the maps, MK turned her attention back to the fairy tales, noting just how many there were. She took down notes of the most interesting, and the most unique ones, but there was one she kept going back to. It was odd, she felt like she had a connection to this particular fairy tale, despite having never heard of it till now. There were only three other fairytales she found interesting, two making her think of her friends Alexa and Krystin. She decided to print out all four fairy tales. While she waited for them to print, she racked her brain for some other way to find out more about the town's history. Maria noticed her pensive look and asked her about it.

MK sighed, "Ah, well, I've been trying to find old stories of the town, it's to help my son with his homework, and I haven't been able to find anything."

"Well, maybe there's something in the old newspapers," stated Maria as she gave MK the sheets of paper.

"You have old newspapers? That just might have the answer."

"OK, well, can you wait a bit? I would have to be in there with you, those things are extremely old."

"I can take her back, if you'd like, Maria." MK turned around, the speaker was a pretty brunette with green eyes.

"Oh, would you, Heather? I'm all alone in the library today."

Heather smiled, "So I noticed, that's why I offered. I also have to get something from the back as well, so I kinda need to go to the back."

"Oh, alright," stated Maria as she took a key from the desk. "Thank you again, so much."

"Oh, not at all. By the way, were are your usual helpers?"

"Well, Carlos had to stay home to take care of his mother, she's gotten really sick, and Jo had to go out and get a few things for them."

"In other words, since you're the best librarian, you got stuck with the place."

Maria chuckled slightly, "I guess you could say that. Thanks again, Heather."

"No problem, we'll be back in a bit." Heather walked off towards the far back of the library, MK following close behind with the fairy tales. Heather unlocked the door and let MK in first before closing it behind herself. "So, what year would you like to start in?"

"Um, how about, 2005?"

Heather gave her an odd look before going to the box marked 2005, "Alright then, 2005 it is. Here you go. Be very careful with that, a lot of these are falling apart."

"OK, very careful," stated MK as she did take one out extremely carefully. She held it gingerly with her fingertips and placed it gently on the table.

"You've worked with old papers before?"

"Sort of, I took a Crime Scene class back in college as an elective, they taught us how to handle a lot of things carefully."

"Well, it's a good skill to have. It looks like you've got this, so I'll head around the corner and get what I came for. Just holler if you need me."

"Alright, thanks." Heather walked away, and MK began to skim through the articles, searching for anything pertaining to anyone finding Richard, but there was nothing. She skimmed through more articles and more papers, but still found nothing. She placed everything back in the box and picked it up. She glanced around at the other boxes, which year next? Her eyes paused over one year in particular, 1989, her birth year. Curious to see what might have happened the year she was born, she took down the box and began browsing the papers very, very carefully. Not a whole lot happened that year, it seemed, the papers were small, filled with the comings and goings of Cedar Grove, as few as there were. She took out the last newspaper in the box. She blinked, there was a lot off about this paper from the get-go. It was proudly announcing itself as the first newspaper of Cedar Grove, complete with a guide to the town. She gasped when she got to the page about prominent figures. Mavis Bennett graced the mayoral picture. Not far from that sat the pictures of the teachers announced for that year, Sarah May among them. And below that sat a picture of Richard, an advertisement asking if anyone knew this coma patient. She nearly dropped it, but Heather caught it.

"Wh-what, why, how?"

Heather sighed, "MK, the answers are there in front of you, why won't you see them?"

"B-but . . ."

"MK, I know you're a good detective, Jamie told me so. Look at your clues, what do they tell you? And don't leave out any because you think they're too fantastic or impossible, a good detective looks at every clue, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Just put the pieces in the right place, and you'll get to see the whole picture. Only, don't start thinking the picture is wrong when you put the pieces in the right places, alright?" Heather sighed as she began putting the newpapers back in the box. MK took to helping her after a short pause, questions still whirling around in her head. MK's brain was on auto, and didn't notice she had placed the four pages she had printed out in the box with the newspapers, but Heather did.

"These don't go in there," she stated, taking them out before they were buried in the newspapers. She took a quick glance at them before letting out a soft, sharp gasp. "These are the last four fairy tales. Here, close your eyes, and take one" MK rolled her eyes, but did as she was asked, closed her eyes and took a page. When she opened them, she glanced down and saw the fairy tale she had felt a connection to. "So, that one's yours," whispered Heather. She glanced at MK's widening eyes before handing her the rest of the fairy tales. "Keep these close, you might have to refer to them soon."

MK shook her head, "No, no more fairy tales. What's the use of them anyway? They're so unrealistic."

"Are they?" MK glanced sharply at Heather. "Are they really, truly unrealistic, or are you refusing to hope, refusing to believe that you can find your happy ending, your true love?"

"M-my true love's gone," whispered MK.

"Is he? Or have you just quit fighting for him, looking for him? Fairy tales show us how to get our happy endings, we have to keep fighting for them, we have to keep looking for them. If we stop, then of course we'll never find ours. That is what is unrealistic, people thinking that happy endings are not worth fighting for, not worth looking for, not worth working for. If that's the case, we're just telling ourselves that we're not worthy of a happy ending or anything good. Please, trust me on this, MK, I know what I'm talking about. I'm still looking for my happy ending, I'm still fighting for it. It's been years since I've started looking, but I'm not going to give up because I know my happy ending is still out there, even if it takes me ten more years before I get mine, I will keep going. Do you know why?" MK shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "Because my happy ending is worth it, the people I love or hope to love are worth it. If I give up, then I will be giving in to the notion that happy endings are unreasonable, unrealistic, too much work, and too much pain. But I am not going to stop because I know it's so much more than that, and the more I work, look, and fight for it, the better it will be. I don't know when, I don't know with whom, but I'll get it. Now, what are you willing to do to get your happy ending?"

"I-I don't know, I-I don't know what I can do."

Heather wrapped her in a hug, "You can start by hoping and believing, and once you've taken that first step, the rest will fall into place, one step at a time. And don't stop looking or fighting for it, it will slip from your grasp the instant you do."

"But what if my true love is dead?"

"Not all happy endings require a true love, sometimes, family and friends is all that you'll need. And there is love there, true love, it's not the same as having your one true love, but it counts, all the same."

MK backed out of the hug, sniffling, "O-OK, I'll go look at the clues, put the puzzle pieces in the right places, put together the big picture."

Heather nodded, "Right, you go on ahead, I'll finish up in here. And let Maria know I'll be out in a bit." MK just nodded, and walked out, relaying Heather's message to Maria before heading back to her hotel room. Heather stood by the table a little longer after she had left. She sighed, "I hope this works, you guys, we're running out of time. And Mer, I guess we're even now." She smiled as she picked up the rest of the newspapers before picking up the box and heading back to the bookshelf she needed to be. She let out a breath as she glanced over its contents and took a book off the shelf, just one of about twenty identical books, all titled _A Faraway Land_.


	16. All Clicking Together

When MK got back to her hotel room, she tried to slow down her racing heart and stop the tears from trickling down her cheeks, Heather seemed to know exactly what to say. After she had calmed down enough, she took out everything she had written down and added what she had just learned. Everything she had, the pictures from Jason's house, the boxes of info at town hall, the not-so-straight stories, and now the newspapers, the first one being around the time of her birth. It was all pointing to something, MK had a feeling of what that thing was, but she didn't feel like she was ready to accept it. But no matter where the clues led, she would have to, sooner or later. accept the truth. She just didn't want to, not yet, she wanted one more piece of evidence, just one, and then she would truly believe everything Jamie had told her, even though she was starting to accept that the evidence all pointed to that. She heaved a sigh, she would have to ask for the book now, so she could read the whole thing. She shook her head, Jamie would be thrilled, that's for sure, and Mavis probably wouldn't be. She sighed as she looked over the four fairy tales she had printed out. She put three of them down, and just slowly absorbed Fairer-than-a-Fairy. Was this her fairy tale?

"After many childless years, a king had a daughter so beautiful that he named her 'Fairer-than-a-Fairy'. This enraged the fairies, who resolved to kidnap her. They entrusted this to the oldest fairy, Lagrée, who had only one eye and one tooth left and could preserve those only by soaking them in a magical liquid at night. She kidnapped the seven-year-old princess, whose cat and dog followed her, and brought her to a castle, where she had a pretty room but was charged to never let a fire go out and to take care of two glass bottles.

One day, while she wandered in the garden, sunlight struck a fountain, and she heard a voice telling her that he was a prince held prisoner here, and he had fallen in love with her; he could speak only in the form of a rainbow, when sunlight shone on that fountain. They talked when they could, which one day led to her allowing the fire to go out. Lagrée, delighted, ordered Fairer-than-a-Fairy to get a new fire from Locrinos, a cruel monster that ate whoever it found, especially young girls. On the way, a bird told her to pick up a shining pebble, and she did. She reached Locrinos's house; only his wife was home, and she was impressed by her manners and beauty, and still more by the stone, and so she gave her the fire and another stone.

The princess was able to meet her lover again, and they devised a way, by putting a crystal bowl on her windowsill, that they could meet more readily. One day, the prince appeared, woeful; he had just learned that his prison was to be changed. The next day, it was cloudy all day until the very end. In her haste to reach him, Fairer-than-a-Fairy upset the bowl. Rather than lose the chance to speak with him, she filled it with the water from the two bottles. Then she set out with her dog and cat, a sprig of myrtle, and the stone Locrinos's wife had given her. Lagrée followed her. When Fairer-than-a-Fairy slept in the shelter that the stone made, Lagrée caught up, but the dog bit her, making her fall and break her last tooth. While she raged, Fairer-than-a-Fairy escaped and went on. She slept under a myrtle that sprang up from the sprig, and when Lagrée reached her, the cat scratched her eye out, making the fairy helpless against her.

Fairer-than-a-Fairy went on. Each night, for three nights, she found a green and white house, where a woman in green and white gave her a nut, a golden pomegranate, and a crystal smelling-bottle, to open at her greatest need. After that, she came to a silver castle, without doors or windows, suspended by silver chains from trees. She wanted to get into it and cracked the nut. She found in it a tiny hall porter, with a key. She climbed one of the chains and the porter let her in a secret door. She found the Rainbow Prince there, asleep. She told her story, twenty times, loudly, without waking him. She opened the pomegranate, where violins flew out of the seeds and began to play, waking him, but not entirely. Fairer-than-a-Fairy opened the bottle, where a syren flew out and told him his lady's story, rousing him. The castle walls opened up, and a court assembled about them, with the prince's mother, who informed him that his father was dead and he was now king. The three green and white ladies appeared and revealed Fairer-than-a-Fairy's royal birth, the wedding followed not long after."

MK read and reread the story over and and over again, the fairy tale becoming more and more dear to her after each reading. Maybe Jamie's father needed to be woken up. She gave a bitter laugh, but paused, what if her fairy tale was only similar to Fairer-than-a-Fairy, but not completely like it? The fairy tales she had read in _A Faraway Land_ were certainly nothing like the fairy tales she had known, or what could be found on Wikipedia. Could it be? She shook her head, she still needed one final clue, one final piece that would leave no doubt in her mind that Jamie was telling the truth, and everything in _A Faraway Land_ was real. She took a quick glance over the other three fairy tales before leaving to pick up Jamie.

"So, did you find anything interesting?" Jamie asked the instant he got into the car.

"Yeah, I've found several fairy tales, and not just from Europe, but all over the world! Did you know that, in Japan, there was this boy who was born from a peach?"

"Whoa, that's cool! We should check out more fairy tales from all over the world!"

"You should, there's even an African deity called Ananse who's a spider, and he spins stories. He likes playing pranks too, but the people love him since he brings wisdom and stories to us humans from the land of the gods."

"Hey! A spider who's not a bad guy! And no, Spider-man doesn't count."

MK laughed, "Oh, alright, but there is a lot out there, and there's probably more than haven't been discovered yet, even in Europe. They found a vault full of fairy tales in Germany not too long ago, in fact."

"Oh wow, I'll have to look into that!"

"You might want to wait a while though, kid, they haven't released the stories yet, which makes me wonder if that story is actually true. I only saw a headline while I was looking up fairy tales, I didn't actually read the article."

"Well, we can do that later, I want to see what you've decided on."

"Actually, I think I've narrowed it down to one."

"That fast?"

"Yeah, it's, well, you'll see when you read it." Jamie glanced at his mother questioningly, but patiently held his tongue and his curiosity in check until they had reached the hotel. MK showed him all four fairy tales, suggesting that he read Fairer-than-a-Fairy first.

After he had finished reading it, he glanced at his mother, "Why this one?"

MK let out a soft sigh, "Because I kept going back to that one. It's hard to explain, it was, it was almost like I had this connection to it. Call me crazy, but that's the best way I can explain it."

"You're not crazy, a bit different, but definitely not crazy," Jamie reassured her.

"Thanks kid," she stated, ruffling his hair. His eyes turned back to the fairy tale, glowing with hope. "So, do you want to dress up as the dog, the cat, or Prince Rainbow."

"Um, definitely not Prince Rainbow, dad should have that. And I'm not sure if I want to be an animal. What about these other ones?"

"Well, I thought of a couple of friends of mine for two of them, the third one was rather interesting." Jamie read through them quickly.

"Huh, those are interesting, and pretty unique. None of the other fairy tales I know have any similarities to these."

"And those aren't the only ones, I took notes about the other ones that were prety unique as well." She showed him her notes, his eyes widened at one, and a grin formed on his face.

"Wow, these are all great, mom! I think I have an idea of what to do."

"Oh? What?" asked MK, glancing at the list over his shoulder.

"Can I keep it a surprise? Please?"

MK sighed, "Oh, alright, fine. Let's get some more of your homework done before we meet the others at the Goodie Tree, alright?"

"Alright." Jamie turned to his homework, MK helping wherever needed to get it done faster. When they got to the Goodie Tree, Sarah May, Jack, and Richard were already there, chatting away. MK noticed with a hint of concern and a twinge of hope how close Richard and Sarah May were as Jamie bounced into the seat next to Jack, MK squeezing in next to him.

"What?" asked MK when she noticed the big grin on Jack's face.

"Oh, just thinking. If our little pow-wow here gets turned into a real group, we're going to have to do the most horrible thing ever and sit at a real table."

Jamie snickered, "That's fine, I'd like to have a seat all to myself without fear of being squashed by you or mom."

"What? Like we'd ever squash this little insect."

"Hey! I am growing, I'm about ready to lose another tooth! Just wait and see, I'll probably end up taller than you."

"Ha! Don't bet on it, you'll probably remain a little insect for the rest of your life."

"Who knows, he could end up as big as me," grinned Richard.

Jack shot him a glare, "Yeah, nice try, Master Chief." MK blinked with surprise as she glanced between the two men, why did that seem so familiar? Jamie was just grinning from ear to ear. Before either one could say another word, Ellen stepped in to take orders. The group gave her their orders before returning to their conversation after she had left.

"So, I hear the Halloween party at the hospital is just a blast," began Richard.

Sarah May chuckled, "Yup, you woke up just in time for that. The whole staff dresses up as monsters, vampires, witches, werewolves, and whatnot. The ball is held there after the trick-or-treating, so, basically, you start at the shops on Bear Valley Drive and work your way to the hospital."

"And it's one of the few nights where we kids can stay up all night long, and can sleep in the next day!"

"Oh? No school the day after Halloween?" Sarah May and Jamie shook their heads.

"Nope, not even for November 2nd, either."

"And when Halloween is on a Wednesday or a Sunday, it's like we get a five day weekend!" cheered Jamie.

"Yup, and my shop gets filled with kids wanting to look at everything."

"Huh, why?"

"Because that's when Mr. Overland pulls out all the weapons and the other old stuff."

"Weapons?" Richard cast Jack a sideways glance, his eyebrow raised.

Jack nodded, "Yup, maybe you should come over and take a look at them, I think I have just the piece to complete your costume." He grinned and gave Richard a wink.

"OK, I think I shall. How does Monday sound?"

"Monday sounds great." Ellen arrived with a cart of plates, and served the group. After a chorus of "Thanks Ellen!", the group dove in. MK noticed Jamie whispering something in Jack's ear as Sarah May explained the etiquette of the ball.

"Dude, that is so awesome!"

"What is?" asked MK.

"His idea for a costume."

"What is it?"

"Hey, he wants it to be a surprise, and I'm not one to spoil the fun, alright?"

"Oh fine," sighed Sarah May, rolling her eyes. The topic went back to Halloween preparations, and they went from there until it was time to leave, Jack taking Richard back to the hospital and MK taking Jamie back home. When MK returned to her hotel room, she noticed she had received an email while at dinner. It was from the police department of Burgess, Maine. "Miss Bomba," it read, "we cannot continue with the investigation of the fire based on your inability to accept the facts in front of you. We are marking this case as solved and are closing it for good. We regret that your boyfriend was killed in the fire, but there is nothing more we can do about it. Please accept this and move on, there is no other way. I wish you the best of luck and the best of wishes, With regards, Thomas Nettles, Police Chief of Burgess, Maine." MK laid down on her bed, tears streaming down her face, how could she find him now?

Richard walked into Overland's Antiques and Oddities first thing Monday morning. Jack took him into the back, and gave him his sword. Richard picked up the sword and ignited it, swinging it around for old times' sake before putting out the fire and returning it to the sheath.

"Good thing I decided to come today, Doc says I'm fine enough to finish recovery at home."

"What, does that mean you can't get out more?"

"More like get back to work, you lazy bones."

Jack snickered, "Oh."

Richard rolled his eyes, "Do you know where the dragons are?"

"Haven't been able to look, but I have an idea of where they could be. Probably the only place they could be hidden effectively, under the town."

"Under the town?"

Jack nodded, "All sedated, until the spell breaks, probably."

"Great, so now we have to figure out a way for the dragons to get top-side without destroying the whole town. Maivs really isn't making this easy."

"Did you expect her to really think this through?"

"That's the thing about my mother, she doesn't think anything through," stated a female voice. A brunette walked into the back.

"Heather! Didn't hear you come in," said Jack as he waved her forward.

"You remember?"

Heather nodded, "So glad that the both of you do as well. Ready for another one?" she pulled out a vial that glittered a gold green.

Jack gasped, "They did it. How?"

"They needed something from Tooth, Sandman had a few of her feathers on hand, and it seems to work. We just need a volunteer."

"Um, are they sure this will work?"

Heather shrugged, "We don't know yet, that's why we need a volunteer."

"Um, what about side effects?"

Heather sighed, "Hiccup, either it works or it doesn't, there are no side effects. But . . ." she paused, a grin spreading on her face as she glanced at Hiccup, "I think I know who to test this on."


	17. Calm Before the Storm

After MK got that email, she became more resolved to find her lover and knew that it wouldn't take long before the trail would run colder than it already was. Over the next week, she spent more and more time at the library trying to narrow down places where Jamie's father would have moved. Knowing exactly the places he would pick out, the narrowing down of places was easy, narrowing down people was the hard part, especially since the cities he would choose weren't exactly the smallest. Though she did breathe with gratitude, at least they weren't as big as Las Vegas or New York. She still spent time with Jamie, Jack, Sarah May, and Richard, soon adding Esther to the group. MK noticed with surprise that Esther was different, but in a good way, she wasn't being abusive to Richard anymore, the two, in fact, acting like long-time friends. Sarah May seemed like she could never be sure if Richard was interested in her, or his wife, and started mentally distancing herself from the couple. The distancing only made MK more acutely aware of something approaching, that they were in the calm before the storm.

Sarah May invited MK to stay with her in her apartment until she left, an invitation to which MK was more than willing to accept. She helped Sarah May decorate the hospital, though she noticed the silent sorrow with which Sarah May entered Richard's old room.

"I'm sorry about Richard."

Sarah May sighed, "Me too, you were right about it all, I should have listened to you."

"No, Sarah May, I was wrong. Richard's a great guy, and I think he does like you."

"But he's married, MK, and she seems to have taken a turn for the better. The way they act, they are so meant for each other."

"No! They act like friends, Sarah May, just friends. He has a longing in his eyes when he looks at you, not at her. I was wrong, I see that now, you were so right, you two are meant for each other. You should give it a second chance."

"But he's still married to her, and, and living with her!"

"What happens if it's just for now, until he can get on his feet?"

"He could live with me."

"But you're not married," began MK.

"See?"

"But what if he's getting his things together to move out? He's only just returned to the place he called home before, before his coma." Sarah May glanced sharply at MK, noticing the pause.

"Are you . . . are you starting to believe in Jamie's theory?"

"No, I need definite evidence. But . . . it is a possibility, I'm more open to the idea now than when I first arrived. It's still crazy, no matter how much solid proof you have."

Sarah May laughed bitterly, "Wouldn't it be nice if it was real?"

MK pursed her lips, "Maybe, it would . . . it would be nice if that's the reason why I haven't been able to find my parents."

Sarah May paused and glanced at her friend, "Right, it would, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, and if Jamie is right, then here I am giving my own mother advice on how to get my dad back." The two burst out laughing as they left the room, it was certainly the most interesting set-up. They continued setting up the hospital, talking of more cheerier things than lost loves and broken hopes. The two even discussed costumes, Sarah May hadn't decided yet on what she wanted to dress up as, but helped MK with her Fairer-than-a-Fairy costume. The days leading up to Halloween rolled lazily by, everyone eager for the holiday to approach, but for different reasons, it would seem.

With the extra aid of Esther and Heather, Jack, Richard, and the two Sandy's kept working on ways for at least Jack to leave Cedar Grove for a while, to get MK to believe, and to find the dragons. For getting MK to believe, they always wound up with dead ends. They knew that she needed one clue, just one, that would topple her over the fence. But the only thing that might work would require magic, and that was practically nonexistent, the Sandy's and Mavis the only ones sort of using it. They continued to brainstorm for ideas, but they turned their a way to get someone out of Cedar Grove and attention to working on finding the dragons.

"So, where would a good entrance to the underground be?" asked Richard, glancing over a map of the town.

"Something with a basement," muttered Jack.

Richard sighed, "I know that, but which basement?"

"Well, we can eliminate the houses, those are used a lot. So, which basements are not used often?"

Jack rubbed his chin and pointed at a few places on the map, "The library, the pet shop, that abandoned studio next door, and Glittering Gewels."

"What you wanna bet it's right under Gobber's feet?" asked Esther.

Richard chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Well, I did find a box with your fake information in the back room, you're supposed to be working at the pet shop, it could be under your feet." Esther, Richard, and Jack glanced at each other in surprise at Heather's comment. Mavis had been keeping tabs on all of them? Had MK found that? That could be another clue that would help her believe, though they figured that it wouldn't be enough to get MK over the fence. But they had at least narrowed down their search to two locations, Glittering Gewels and Littlest Pet Shop.

With both Esther and Heather near Richard, Mavis had no reason to suspect the real goings-on of their little get-togethers. In fact, she was starting to feel good, Sarah May was pretty much broken-hearted while Richard was spending time with his wife, as he should, so good that she decided to let Jamie go to trick-or-treating on Halloween. She was still unsure of MK, but there didn't seem to be any way in which she could break the spell, so for the first time since MK arrived, Mavis let herself breathe. Jamie got his costume together with the help of Jack and even Heather at times, eager for his first Halloween. But there was one other person, one other heart fluttering with excitement as Halloween approached. The Man in the Moon watched the preparations for Halloween get underway and the hearts of the main characters as the holiday approached. The pieces were falling into place, one by one, as the most exciting, life-changing Halloween of all time drew nigh. He glanced to other parts of the country, they would certainly be affected, though only one would notice the changes, and only because of his connection to the holiday. It wouldn't be long before he would have to step back into the story and help defeat the evils that would soon threaten the town, and his family.


	18. Dark & Deep

The day before Halloween was a flurry of activity with last-minute preparations, getting candy, completing costumes, and for the children. finishing up all homework so they could enjoy their holiday weekend. MK pretty much spent the day alone, wandering around the bustling town. She stopped by Overland's Antiques and Oddities for a spell, one of the few quiet shops in the town.

"Ah, hello MK, how are you this fine day before the big day?"

MK gave a slight chuckle mixed in with a sigh, "Well, all alone, really, just standing around watching the last of the decorations go up."

"Got your costume ready, and your ball gown?"

MK nodded, "Yup, mine is all ready. Sarah May still needs a ball gown, but at least she's got her costume ready."

Jack's eyes twinkled, "Ah, are you here to get her one from my stash?"

"Wh-what? Why would she wear any of those?"

Jack shrugged, "Well, it's all she's got left, right? And since Jamie already knew about you being a detective, you can consider this payment for the information you found at Jason's. How does that sound?"

MK thought for a bit, "Well, alright."

"Do you know your friend well enough to choose a dress for her? Or would you rather wait until after school when she can come and choose for herself?"

MK gave a slight grin, "I know her pretty well enough to choose right now. And if I remember the dresses correctly, then there's only a couple that would work."

"Right, well, come on into the back, then, and choose a dress for your friend." MK nodded before following him to the back. She knew exactly what Sarah May would like, there really were only two options, the red dress with the brown bears, and the green dress with the black dragons. Jack opened the wardrobe for her, and she rummaged through the dresses, looking at each one carefully. But the two she had figured out that would work were the only two that she knew Sarah May would like. However, just as it was described in Brown Bear of Norway, the green of the dress matched Richard's eyes perfectly, and with the recent developments in their relationship, MK wasn't sure if getting that one for Sarah may was such a good idea. She picked out the red dress.

She turned to Jack, sighing, "I know, I know, this is the dress Princess Merida wore in Brown Bear of Norway, but it's the only one Sarah May would like."

Jack just smirked, "That's perfectly alright. Would you like to have the bear clip to go with it?"

"Um . . ."

"If you want to, you can work for it. I have a task that you can do, if you don't mind doing it."

MK glanced at him, a little curiosity taking over, "What is it?"

"Could you check out what's in the basement of Glittering Gewels?"

MK blinked, "What? Why?"

Jack shrugged, "Well, George was telling me there's a bunch of stuff down there that he's willing to give me, but I can't leave my shop anytime soon, and he wants some of it out by tomorrow. So could you go and take a look, bring me back a list of what's down there, and we'll go from there?"

MK let out a puff of air, "Alright, it's better than sitting around doing nothing."

Jack grinned, "Thanks MK, you're the best." MK merely rolled her eyes as she picked up the dress before leaving the shop. Going back to the hotel to get her car, she drove over to Glittering Gewels to get the list.

"Well, hello there again, how are ya?" asked George when she walked in.

"Doing rather well, thank you. I'm here on behalf of Jackson Overland, he regrets that he couldn't come himself, but he couldn't leave the shop and asked me to bring him a list of everything you've got."

George led her into the back,"Oh good, because I do need this stuff out before tomorrow night. There's one door to the basement, and there's the other. Go ahead and take a look, I'm helping another customer. I'll be down there to help when we're finished here."

MK smiled, "Thanks." She took a quick glance around the back of Glittering Gewels, it looked like a giant cavern with a smithy at the far back, a large opening in the front wall and a large one in the top to let out the smoke. One basement door took up nearly half the cavern floor, the other was at the far wall behind the smithy. MK took the smaller door to go down to the basement, and was taken back by what she saw. There were tons of jewelry, antiques, and definitely several oddities. She looked through several old Viking pieces, shields, axes, even a sword or two. She went about sorting through everything, and wrote down every piece that she found. The strangest that she found were large saddles, she knew there wasn't a horse alive big enough to fit any of these, so what were they used for? When George finally got down there after taking care of several customers, as he explained, MK was about halfway through.

"Wow, nice work you're doing there, young lady! This is the cleanest I've ever seen my basement! Oh look! You found my pliers! Been wondering where that went."

MK stood up from taking another shield to its pile, wiping her sweaty forehead with her arm, "Well, there's still a lot that needs to be done."

"Then let's hurry this up then, two of my boys just came back from an errand I sent them on, so if the two of us work hard, we should get this done before lunch!"

"Mr. Goodwin?"

"Oh, just call me George."  
"Alright, uh, George, why do you need this all out by tomorrow?"

"Eh? Oh, Richard had an idea for a Halloween attraction, but my basement is the only one large enough for it."

"What is it?"

George only gave her a mysterious grin, "You'll just have to come by tomorrow night and see for yourself. Though, some of this might work for his idea, I'll have to ask him about it. Leave all the Vikings stuff here for now, I don't think Jack could use that anyway." MK nodded, and the two went back to work. George was a bit off on his calculations as they had about a sixth of it left when they took a break for lunch. But they did manage to finish that last little bit in fifteen minutes when they got back from lunch. When they were done, MK noticed something strange in the wooden floorboards, it looked like a trap door, a rather large trap door. She decided to leave it unexplored for the moment and left to give Jack the list, George hauling up the pieces of jewelry that they had found into his shop.

"Wow, there's a ton of stuff down there!" exclaimed Jack as he looked over the list.

"Well yeah, his basement's large enough to fit Godzilla! Well, at least his head."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "That large, huh? And yet you were able to sort through everything before lunch."

"Almost everything, we finished up the last bit after lunch."

"You still got it done fairly quick for such a large basement."

"OK, his basement wasn't filled to the top with stuff, and a lot of it was small. The bigger stuff was all the Viking pieces that George said to leave in case Richard decides to use that for his Halloween attraction. Do you know anything about that?"

Jack blinked, though an inkling of an idea had entered his mind, "No idea, he didn't tell me anything about that."

"Oh really? With all the time he spends here, you'd think the two of you would have become best friends."

Jack laughed, "Maybe we have, but even then, best friends keep secrets from each other."

"N-no they wouldn't."

"Oh, so you've never had to keep a secret from your best friend so as not to spoil the surprise birthday party, or the Christmas present?"

"Oh, right. Do you think it might be a surprise for all of us?"

Jack shrugged, "Wouldn't put it past him. I have come to know him well enough to know that he does enjoy planning and building things. I also know that he likes to put his heart and his back into thanking people, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's an 'invite only' event. That, and, I think he's interested in working with George, so this might be a good way to get the guy to consider hiring him. But don't tell him that."

"Oh, wow. I won't breathe a word."

"Thanks MK, though I think it's also to get his mind off of Sarah May's distance."

MK pursed her lips and glanced away, it was hard on both of them, it seemed, "Oh, I see. I-I am trying to get her to see that Esther and Richard think of each other as nothing more than friends, and that Richard really does care for her."

Jack's eyes twinkled, "Ah, I see, so I have another ally. If this idea of Richard's really is his thank-you to all of us, you'd better make sure Sarah May doesn't know that it's from him, tell her it's from me, if you have to, and at the first chance we get, get them alone together. Esther is more than willing to help."

MK cracked a smile, "And I'm sure Jamie is as well."

Jack grinned, "You can count on that. If that's the case, we'd better get back to business, Richard doesn't have much time then." Jack turned back to the list, quickly glancing over everything that was left, MK having crossed out the jewelry George took and the Viking pieces he felt Richard might need. His eyes widened slightly at several of the pieces, but MK only thought that he was surprised with the number of items, and what was staying at Glittering Gewels. Jack basically circled the rest that were available before handing the list back to MK. "Think that will all fit into your car?"

"More likely than the things that are staying, though I might have to make two trips. Those tapestries would take up about half of the room," quipped MK, glancing through the list.

Jack nodded, "That's fine, as long as it's all in my shop before dinner."

MK sighed, rolling her eyes, "Oh, fine." She left to bring the stuff from Glittering Gewels to Overland's Antiques and Oddities. Jack went into the back to clear up some space to put the items, a little smile playing on his lips.

"Well, it looks like your daughter just found the dragons, and everything else, it seems, from your castle."


	19. Living in Fairy Tales

MK snuck the red dress and the bear clip into her room at Sarah May's apartment, she couldn't wait to see her friend's face on seeing the dress, much less seeing her in the dress. She went about fixing dinner, wanting Sarah May to get some rest before taking the children around the next day for trick-or-treating. That got her to thinking about Jamie, she hadn't yet told him her plans, though she was curious as to what his costume would be. Letting out a sigh, she figured on going to see Mavis after lunch the next day and letting her know first what was going to happen before breaking the news to Jamie. When Sarah May came home, she was exhausted, and was quite thankful that MK had made dinner.

"Oh, thank you so much, MK, I've been so swamped today, I clean forgot about dinner!"

MK chuckled, "Then it's a good thing I accepted your invitation to stay with you until I leave, otherwise, you might not get anything done!"

Sarah May laughed, "That's certainly true. This is the first year since I started teaching that I've been able to eat something for dinner before Halloween!"

"Really? Every single year?"

Sarah May nodded as she dove into her chicken, "Every single year, sometimes I come home so late that I just head off to bed."

"Wow, that must be hard."

Sarah May shrugged, "I'm used to it, so it's not that big of a deal. Not only that, it's just one night out of the year, and Halloween does bring its tasty treats, after all."

MK chuckled, "I guess that's so."

"Oh, um, are you going to talk to Jamie about your plans?"

MK bit her lip, nodding, "Yeah, I will, I was thinking about that as I fixed dinner. I'm thinking of letting Mavis know before spilling it to Jamie, so I'll visit her tomorrow before school is out, around lunchtime, maybe."

"That sounds like a good idea. Oh, um, while you're out, could you pick up some party favors at Sandy's? I completely forgot to do that this year. I'll pay you back later, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, I'll be happy to help. Where do you want me to take them?"

"Oh, thanks so much! Well, some is supposed to go to the hospital, I promised I would bring ten for this year, and then I would need fifteen for my classroom."

"Oh, OK. Any particular theme?"

"Well, the hospital would take anything, really, but for my classroom, I tend to go with ghosts."

"Really? Why?"

Sarah May shrugged, "Oh, I guess I've always been fascinated by the will-o-the-wisps of Celtic mythology, stories my mother used to tell me, to continue our Celtic heritage."

"Huh, that's interesting. Well, I'll keep that in mind then, ghosts for you, whatever's left for the hospital."

Sarah May chuckled, "Pretty much. Thanks for dinner, it was great!"

"Oh, it was my pleasure, figured you might come in exhausted."

Sarah May let out a huff, "No kidding." She rose from the table, and the two took their conversation into the kitchen, where they proceeded to clean up. "So, you have your costume all set up and ready?"

"Yup, Jamie was going to let me borrow his dog, and Jason was going to let me borrow his cat Bootsie, but I thought it best that I either leave that out or use stuffed animals. I wouldn't be sure if the two would get along together, much less how to control a greyhound if she goes all haywire."

Sarah May chuckled, "That's true, though it would have been a pretty funny sight."

MK snorted, "Of course it would, and I wouldn't be able to expect any help from you because you'd be on the ground laughing till your sides split."

Sarah May snickered, "You bet I would."

MK rolled her eyes, "Go figure. What about your costume? You haven't said anything at all about it to me."

"Of course not, I want it to be a surprise," Sarah May winked.

MK grinned, "Go figure, again. Then can you at least tell me about your ball gown? Or is that going to be a surprise too?"

A hint of sorrow entered Sarah May's smiling eyes, "No, I'm just not going. I haven't gone for the past few years, I don't see the point of going now."

"Even to just keep me company?"

Sarah May glanced at MK before sighing, "Well, there's also the fact that I don't have time to get a dress."

"What about Overland's Antiques and Oddities? He has several old dresses in the back that he's shown me."

Sarah May shook her head, "Too expensive, though they are very pretty."

"You've seen them?"

Sarah May nodded, "Yeah, a few years ago when I tried to go the first time. They were far too expensive for me, and I've been volunteering at the hospital's party ever since."

"Which ones did you like?"

"Don't even think about getting me one."

"But I'll be swamped tomorrow! Or did you forget that I have to storm Sandy's for party favors and visit Mavis?"

Sarah May laughed, "Oh, right, sorry. Well, there was really only one I really liked, it was this apple red dress with brown bears along the hem. I really liked that one."

"Oh, I liked that one too! Though I think I like that one only because mine is pretty similar." The two giggled at the idea. MK turned back to washing dishes before dropping the next hint. "Though, I also liked the green one with the black dragons. I had only seen it after I bought my dress, so I couldn't exactly get it when I already had one. But I thought it might look nice with my green eyes. What do you think?" MK was startled by Sarah May's sudden movement as she turned MK around and backed up, her hands set up like a picture frame. She moved a little closer before speaking.

"Well, maybe. I'd have to see you in it, I don't remember the shade."

"Oh, well, if you don't mind my saying this, my first thought was of Richard's eyes. The shade looked pretty similar."

Sarah May turned her head, "I see."

MK sighed, "Sarah May, really, truly, he does care for you, Jack said so himself, Richard and Esther are just friends."

Sarah May finished drying off the dish and put it away, "Right, if you don't mind, I'm feeling kinda sleepy. I'm going to bed." MK sighed as Sarah May walked out the room, so much for that. Jack's plan had better work, and only if Richard was planning something to thank his friends via his idea.

MK woke the next morning to find Sarah May gone, a note from her apologising for the night before and for leaving so early as she had some things to take care of before the children got to school, ending with a 'see you soon', MK sighed as she crumbled up the note and threw it away. Richard, those invites better arrive soon, she thought grumpily. She had a quick breakfast before heading to her room and pulled out both red dresses, laying them gently side by side on her bed. Sarah May's dress was a brighter red than MK's, the brown bears a stark contrast to the bright red. MK blinked, she had seen that style of bear somewhere. Her widened as she remembered, the tapestries! Two of the tapestries had bears in the same style as the bears on the dress, kind of odd, but if the dress was as old as the tapestries, then it kind of made sense. They all might have belonged to the same woman, or a family. Taking a breath, MK went about changing into her costume. She had a pale red, almost pink, medieval dress with an off white apron and a cloak the in the same color as her favorite jacket. She placed a pomegranate, a peanut, and a smelling bottle in the pockets of the apron before letting out her hair. It felt weird having her hair down, but in a way, it felt good. To top it off, she placed a flower crown on her head. Once she was done, she grabbed her wallet and keys and set off to see Mavis. The illustrious mayor was certainly surprised to see her guest, even more so in her outfit.

"What are you dressing as?" asked Mavis when she opened the door.

"Fairer-than-a-Fairy," smiled MK. "May I come in? I need to talk to you about something, particularly Jamie."

Mavis opened the door wider, letting her in, "What about him?"

MK sighed as she walked into the house, "About how he's going to take my departure. I have to leave no later than the 2nd. I have a couple of cases I have to take care of, and I don't know when I'll be back, or if."

Mavis blinked, "You don't know if you'll be back?" MK nodded slowly and sadly. "Oh, that, that won't go over too well with him. And he was getting so used to having you around. Come on into the kitchen, we'll talk more there." MK followed her hostess into the kitchen, where dozens of pies lay cooling, more apparently in the oven.

"You're making pies for the ball?" MK asked incredulously.

Mavis shot her a smile, "Yes, I'm trying a variety this year. Every year I've done a different kind, but this year, I've decided to several of each kind. We'll see how this will turn out."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it's a hit."

"Oh, thanks. But, about your departure, and Jamie . . ."

"Oh, right, about that. I haven't told him yet, but I wanted to let you know first so you could be prepared to help him when I'm gone."

"Can you tell me about your cases?"

MK shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't, my clients want secrecy until they have been solved."

Mavis let out a sigh, "Well, that's too bad, about you leaving, and we were all just getting to know you, even me. I do want to apologise for my unsightly behavior upon your arrival, I love Jamie, and I was afraid you would take him away from me."

"Oh no, I can't take him back, and being a detective, well, it's no life for a nine-year old, no matter how many mysteries he enjoys."

"Well, thank you for letting me know about this, I'll try to help Jamie understand that your departure was important. Would you like to share a pie with me? I was trying out two different apples, and, well, as you can see, it didn't turn out that nice, though it doesn't taste bad." Mavis showed her a pie that had a bite already taken out of it, and it looked rather interesting, one side looked kind of pale and underdone, but the other looked golden. "Apparently the times vary on the apples, I'm glad I had only tried out one or this would have been a disaster."

MK grinned, "That it would, and so many delicious pies would have gone to waste. However, I have to go run a few errands for Sarah May real quick before school's out. I'm afraid I can't stay long."

"Oh no, that's perfectly alright. Here, you can have this half for the road, my pies have a nice shelf life of four days, so you can eat it at your leisure." Mavis quickly packed the better-looking half into a ziplock bag.

"Oh, thank you so much! And thank you for understanding."

"Not at all! Thank you for coming by and letting me know! I hope you enjoy yourself at the ball! Oh, and could you bring Jamie to the ball? I still have to finish up a few things here!" Mavis waved as MK walked out the door.

"Sure! I'll see you there!" MK waved and smiled back before getting into her car and driving off, not noticing the change in Mavis' expression as she took off for Sandy's.

"Mom!" Jamie nearly tackled MK when she walked into Sarah May's classroom with the goodies.

"OK! Glad to see you too, kid, but I've got my arms full. And you dressed up as Peter Pan?"

Jamie grinned as he took a couple of bags from her, "Yup, it was classified as a fairy tale, so I decided to use it. No one else has dressed up as Peter Pan before, so here I am." Jamie tilted his head back and let out a crow, a group of boys answered in a chorus of crows. Jamie laughed as they approached, "And I guess you could say these are my Lost Boys. Could you take these to Mrs. Bernards, please?"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" MK held back the bags as they grabbed for them.

"Only if you get them to Mrs. Bernards without touching anything in here, got it?"

The boys moaned, "Oh, alright."

"OK, but remember, I'm watching you." The boys whooped when MK finally let go of the bags and they tore off towards their teacher to deliver the packages.

"Um, Jamie? I thought Peter Pan had six Lost Boys, not four."

"Oh, the numbers actually varied, so I asked my friends if anyone wanted to be a Lost Boy, and these four are it."

MK chuckled, "Looks like a good bunch, nonetheless."

"Alright everybody! Come get your candy!" Fifteen children's voices went up in whoops and cheers as they crowded around their teacher handing out the ghost-bagged candy. Jamie went and got his bag before returning to his mother's side.

"Want some?" he asked before popping a candy corn in his mouth.

MK shook her head, "No thanks, I've got something in the car."

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure, let your teacher know first."

"Right." Jamie bounded over to Sarah May and told her where he was going before bouncing back to his mother.

"She said it's alright! There's not much going on today anyway for school."

"Alright, let's go then." MK led the way to the car, jingling the keys on the way. She unlocked the car and Jamie climbed in, pausing when he noticed the apple pie.

"Mom, where did you get this?" he asked, holding up the pie.

"Your mom, she was real sweet giving me a piece. We had a little chat before I came here, something I have to talk to you about, actually. Jamie what are you doing?" Jamie was starting to get out of the car.

"You can't eat it, mom!"

"What? Why not?"

"It's apple! It's probably the poisoned apple that Sarah May ate!"

"Jamie! Give it back!" MK reached for it, but Jamie kept it out of her reach.

Jamie sighed, "I know you don't believe anything about A Faraway Land, but maybe this will convince you." He took a big bite out of the pie, chewed, and swallowed.

"Oh come on kid, why did you do that? Jamie!" she shrieked as the pie fell from Jamie's hand onto the driveway, Jamie's eyes had closed, and unresponsive to his mother's screams.


	20. On Halloween

MK rushed Jamie to the hospital where Dr. Lupei and several nurses took over. One nurse began making calls to people on Jamie's emergency contact list. Since MK was not legally Jamie's guardian, she wouldn't be allowed in the room until Mavis arrived and gave her say-so. MK waited in the lobby for what felt like forever, every detail of the day racing through her mind. She just about pounced on Mavis the instant she walked into the hospital.

"What was in that pie?" she growled, pinning Mavis to the wall. Mavis' eyes grew wide, she knew now what happened.

"H-he ate it? How could you let him eat it! That was for you only!"

"I didn't let him eat it, he somehow knew it had been poisoned and ate it to prove a point to me!"

Mavis let out a hiss, "Which was what?"

MK's lips quivered as tears trickled down her face, "That everything in _A Faraway Land_ was real."

Mavis' jaw clenched tight as her eyes shot daggers at MK, "So, you believe now, don't you?"

"M-maybe."

"Either a yes or a no, it can't be in between."

"Why are you so worried about it? You wouldn't want me to believe!"

Mavis pushed her off, "Maybe I don't, but now you've gone and ruined everything! Jamie is going to die because of you!"

"Not me, you! You were the one who gave me that stupid pie in the first place!"

"Just for you! No one else!"

"So, you were scared that I would break the spell, and thought of killing me without letting Jamie know." MK's eyes flashed as she charged Mavis again, only to be stopped by a pair of strong arms.

"MK, hold it! Now is not the time to be fighting! Jamie needs the both of you to be strong and to work together!" came Richard's voice. MK struggled against his strong hold, but he only whispered in her ear. "It's OK, it's OK, calm down. What's past is past, all we can do now is find a way to help Jamie, alright?" Mavis glanced at Richard weirdly, but her eyes widened when Jack walked into the room with a white-lined staff and stood next to Richard, Dr. Lupei not far behind. Lupei rushed to Mavis.

"Miss Mayor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I don't want this woman in Jamie's room at all, understand?"

"Of course, would you like to see your son?"

"Yes." Mavis shot Jack a glare as she followed Dr. Lupei to Jamie's room.

"No," whispered MK as she sank to the ground, Richard sinking with her, cradling her close. She turned her head into his shoulder, sobbing, while he glanced up at Jack.

"What should we do now? We need to get MK into that room!" Jack glanced at the hall before turning back to Richard with a nod.

"I think I have an idea, but you're going to have to make it quick."

MK glanced up from Richard's shoulder, "Wh-what do we have to do?"

Jack handed them _A Faraway Land_ , "You're going to need this. Head to the basement of Glittering Gewels, you might as well bring up all the phials." Richard took the book and gave a determined nod, MK glancing questioningly between the two. "You'd better get going, he doesn't have all night."

"W-wait, what about you?"

"I've got to stay and make sure Mavis doesn't do anything that could quicken Jamie's death. Esther is here, I can ask her for help."

Richard nodded, "Right, good luck. Come on, MK, we need to go." MK rose and let Richard lead her out. She didn't even pause to ask why they weren't taking the car, she just concentrated on keeping up with his long stride. What got her out of it was she finally got a good look at Richard's costume. He was wearing black Viking armour with brown and red accents over an olive green shirt and pants, the strange sword she had seen at Jack's shop strapped to his good leg. She then realized with a start that Richard was wearing Chief Hiccup's outfit, and seeing him in it only made her think of the stories. She glanced at the book he clutched to his chest with his other hand, she needed to read Ever After. She didn't know why or how she knew that, but she had to, and quickly. They made good time to Glittering Gewels, George a bit curious as to why MK was with Richard, MK figuring that Richard had told him about Sarah May.

"Gob-George, listen we don't have much time, we have got to get into the basement, now." Both MK and George were taken back by the tone in Richard's voice, he really sounded like he should be the Mayor at that moment rather than Mavis. Or, as MK's thoughts kept turning back to the stories, like a chief. A chief speaking to his father's best friend and the blacksmith, MK realized, glancing over George's form.

"But I still have to finish up a few things in the smithy!" blurted George.

"Gob-George, it doesn't matter, we just need to get into the basement!"

"Oh, alright, I just thought you had wanted to start your thing later this evening!"

"I do, this is about something else."

"Oh, right, sorry, go ahead then. Let me know if you need any help!"

"Thanks Gob-, I mean, George."

"No problem, as long as you stop adding letters to my name, I'm just George." Richard grinned sheepishly before he pulled MK down the basement stairs. He turned on the light as he set about moving things off the large trapdoor. It had been set up rather elegantly and efficiently. Richard apparently got the tapestries back from Jack as MK noticed them hung up on the three walls, with the Viking pieces set up as if in a maze, some of the clothing sets were draped over dummies, making them look like Viking scarecrows.

"MK, come and help," Richard barked the order, snapping MK out of her stupor. She noticed that the book was lying close to the trapdoor while she helped Richard pull some of the heavier items off. He told her to put the last two shields up against the far wall before turning his attention to opening the trapdoor. MK was soon at his side, helping him pull and strain against the door before getting it to budge a little bit. They redoubled their efforts, finally getting the trapdoor to open. A burst of hot, wet air greeted them as they peered into the darkness below. From the light in the basement, they could see a ladder going a ways down, more than thirty feet by MK's reckoning. Richard grabbed the book and began his descent.

"Are you coming?" he asked her. MK mutely nodded and followed him down the ladder. The way seemed long and arduous, MK wasn't sure how Richard was managing it with the book, but she didn't hear him drop it or complain about how hard it was. In fact, whenever she snuck a peek below, he seemed to be a few rungs below her, well ahead of her pace. She quickened her own pace, reaching the bottom not long after he did. "Here, take the book. Go to chapter eight of Myrsina, we're going to need the picture of the hole in the tree." MK took it but shot a glance upwards, how were they going to see? The only light they had was from the basement, and at their depth, was dim enough as it was. She flipped through pages, stopping when a burst of flame startled her. Richard's sword was ablaze, lighting a part of what they now saw was a ginormous cave, only having entered at the smallest part of the cave. The cave loomed high over their heads, nearly sixty feet above, and about a hundred feet lay in front of them.

"Wow," breathed MK, the vastness of the cave taking her breath away, and pushing all other thoughts from her mind.

"You found the picture?" MK blinked and flipped through a few more pages before stopping at the picture Richard was looking for, a gnarly tree with a hollow that resembled a dragon. "It's probably on the other side of the cave," grumbled Richard, raising his sword to try and spread a bit more light, but it didn't go much further than a few feet ahead. MK gasped, something had brushed by her.

"What was that?" Richard moved to glance at her, but something behind her seemed to catch his attention and his eyes grew wide. MK spun around to see what he had seen, but couldn't see a thing. "Wh-what is it?"

Richard glanced at her, a hint of sorrow in his eyes, "You still don't truly believe, do you? You can't see them?"

MK turned to him with wide eyes, "N-no, I, I think I need to read Ever After."

Richard nodded, "Stay here, you'll have enough light for now. I'm going to look for the tree. And no matter what happens, stay still, no sudden moves, got it? They don't know you very well." MK gulped, but nodded, if she finally saw what they were, she's probably be too surprised to move. "Good, I'll holler if I find anything." Richard walked further into the cave, the warm light of his sword fading away with every step. MK almost screamed for him to come back, something inside of her telling her he would if she had, but Jamie was more important than being left alone with something invisible that hadn't attacked her. Reclining against the ladder, MK opened the book to Ever After. Her mouth dropped at what the story revealed, tears spilling from her eyes as she finally opened her heart to hope and belief.


	21. Believing is Seeing

MK stared at the picture of the baby Mary Katherine for who knows how long, she had that blanket, she still had that blanket. Her fingers touched the page, she could almost feel it beneath her fingers, the green apples, the red-orange leaves, the dark brown trunk, the fiery red letters that spelled out her name. And she had seen pictures of herself when she was a baby, it was an exact match. She pulled the book in against her chest, raising her head to look up as tears of relief spilled. She believed, there was no other way around it, she had to believe. She found her parents, and she found her son. Jamie! MK wiped her tears onto her sleeve as she quickly closed the book and rose from her seat. She paused, there, in front of her, stood two black shapes. She wanted to scream, but she remembered her father's words and didn't make any sudden movements. Oh, it felt good to call him that, so good that a wave of relief washed over her, feeling like a burden had been released from her shoulders. One of the two shapes came closer, and with a start, MK realized that this was Toothless. He sniffed her all over before a big grin appeared on his face as he nudged her, he remembered who she was.

She petted him, "H-hey, Toothless. Hi Morrigan." The other dragon came forward to also sniff her, the two humming contently as she petted them both.

"MK! I think I found it!" MK started to rush towards his voice, but Toothless insisted she ride on his back, and he galloped with her all the way to where Richard was standing. Not Richard, especially now that he was dressed in his old clothes, but Hiccup, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk. MK stifled a giggle, she could see why her mom would make such jokes about his name, it was kind of silly. But that thought was erased from her mind when she saw him standing next to a gnarly tree with a hollow in the shape of a dragon.

Hiccup gasped when he saw her approaching on Toothless' back, "You can see them! You believe!"

"Yeah, I can . . . Dad." Grinning, he rushed towards her as she dismounted and pulled her into a big hug.

"Come on, let's get the phials and get out of here."

MK nodded, "Right." She followed Hiccup to the tree, before letting out a scream as she felt herself being lifted off the ground.

"Dad!"

"Mary Katherine!" Hiccup charged, his sword alight, hacking away at the swinging vines. The dragons lept into the fray, sending in their blue fireballs, only shooting when they knew they would miss MK. The vines tightened around her, the sound of her gasping for breath sent rage through Hiccup's blood. "No! I am not going to lose her to you! Come on bud!" With a roar, Toothless took off, Hiccup brandishing his sword. He sliced through vine after vine, trying his hardest to cut the one that held MK. He ignited his sword, that helped to cut through the vines faster, but more seemed to show up the more he cut. But he kept at it, and finally cut through the vine that held MK. "Morrigan!" Morrigan flew up and caught MK, bringing her gently to the ground. MK gasped for breath, unable to do anything just yet, and watched helplessly as the vines turned with fury on her father.

"Morrigan . . . we have to . . . help," she gasped as she rose dizzily. Morrigan steadied her before pulling a sword to her side. "Thanks, girl," MK smiled weakly. She picked up the sword and leaned on it for a bit, getting her breath and her strength back, before jumping onto Morrigan and rushed to help Hiccup and Toothless. Unused to the weight of the sword, MK swung clumsily, but she managed to connect with a few vines. The vines seemed to retreat because of MK clumsy surprise attack, letting the four land and get some rest.

"Thanks, for helping," panted Hiccup.

"Well, thanks for saving my life," MK smiled. Hiccup grinned, and pulled her in for a hug, planting a relieved kiss on the top of her head.

"We should have brought your mom's bow and arrows, we might have stood a better chance."

"Yeah, well, I don't think even Jack Frost knew that was here."

HIccup gave a slight chuckle, "Yeah, I doubt it. Come on, let's see if we can get those phials before those vines decide to come back." Hiccup rose and reached for the hollow.

"Dad, they're coming back!" Toothless and Morrigan sent a volley of fireballs at the approaching vines, allowing Hiccup to grab two of the phials before he had to get out of the way of a particularly nasty-looking vine. "They've got thorns now!" exclaimed MK as she slashed through the vine that tried to attack Hiccup.

Hiccup grumbled, "Go figure." He stuffed the two phials into his pocket before bringing his sword down on another vine, getting a good look at the changes. The leaves were now large, deadly thorns and the tender, green shoots were now almost hard and woody, requiring more strength to cut through them. The dragons stayed clear of the vines as best as they could, keeping to their fireballs as their primary defense, along with MK's and Hiccup's swords. "Back to back!" shouted Hiccup as the vines came in rapid fire. MK quickly had her back up against his, and the two sliced through vine after vine. The two would turn sometimes, staying in a flurry of motion to just keep ahead of the multitude of vines.

"Ugh, I've had enough of this!" MK pulled out her gun from a pocket on her dress, and fired at the very center of the vine horde, the gun blast giving off a loud vibration. The vines went screaming back into the mother load, and everything went silent. "I should have done that a while ago. Seems like that thing doesn't like sound."

"Ow, neither do we," muttered Hiccup. He, Toothless, and Morrigan had covered their ears, wincing from the shockwave of the gunshot.

"Oh, sorry," grimaced MK, going to return the gun to her pocket, but paused. The vines looked like they were going to come back. "Cover your ears!" The three clamped their ears shut as MK fired off another shot at the plant, but nothing happened besides just scaring it away. "Really? Can't a gun kill something, like it's supposed to?" she wondered, aiming to take another shot while Hiccup made his way back to the hollow.

"Not if it's an enchanted plant," stated a voice. MK glanced over at the newcomer, Jack Frost was watching the plant, his staff emitting a soft, white glow. The plant started moving again, seemingly looking for a spot to attack.

"Mary Katherine, look out!" A long, deadly vine rushed towards her, a gasp the only sound she managed to get out, it was traveling so fast. But it never reached its target as tendrils of ice crawled up the thorns even faster. The plant seemed to scream, quivering and shaking as the ice grew closer to the heart of the plant. Jack sent a burst of icy wind, covering the whole thing in a thick layer of snow, freezing it solid. Jack's staff came back to the ground as the plant fell from the ceiling, splashing into the underground lake. MK stood there panting, not realizing she had been trembling until Hiccup wrapped her in his arms.

"Come on, quick! It won't take Mavis long to realize that Astrid remembers!" exclaimed Jack as he reached in and grabbed two phials. He stuffed them in his jacket pocket before reaching back in and pulled out two more, stuffing them in his other pocket.

"How many do you have in there?" MK asked, still seeking comfort in her father's arms.

"Twelve, I'll go get the basement open so you can fly the dragons out, there really is not much time!" With that, he flew off, a trail of frost following in his wake.

"He can fly!" whooped Hiccup. He burst out laughing, "But then again, so can we." Hiccup quickly thrust his hand into the hollow and pulled out two phials, each glowing a different color. MK reached in and pulled out the other four. They each stuffed the ones they got into their pockets before climbing onto the dragons. The two dragons ran towards the ladder, a thought coming to MK as they quickly neared the way up.

"What if he hasn't gotten the basement door open?"

"He probably already has, but we can stop in the basement to double check, just in case."

MK nodded, "OK." Hiccup and Toothless took off, Toothless' dark form scaling the ladder without touching it. Morrigan followed suit as she flew behind, MK holding on tight. They quickly paused in the basement, noticing that Jack came through and the larger basement door was wide open.

"Let's go!" The two took off again, the dragons ecstatic over feeling the evening wind on their faces and beneath their wings. Hiccup was clearly just as ecstatic at being back on Toothless, flying and carefree. MK let the feeling of freedom wash over her as she and Morrigan followed, but only for a minute as the hospital came into view. Within a matter of minutes, they had landed, Hiccup and MK rushing through the double doors. Sarah May was standing there, apparently waiting for them, but she only spoke to MK.

"Jack's convinced Dr. Lupei to let you see Jamie. You'd better get in there."

"Thanks," breathed MK, hugging her mother. Sarah May didn't even acknowledge Hiccup, which was clearly breaking his heart. But he followed MK into Jamie's room, where Jack, Esther, Mavis, and Dr. Lupei stood around Jamie's bed, all seemingly waiting for the two. Mavis showed her disgust at having MK in the room.

Jack spoke up, "I need the burgundy phial." The two took out the phials in their pockets, MK having the phial Jack was looking for. She handed it to him, and he turned to Mavis, whose curiosity seemed to outweigh her dissatisfaction. "This is what happens when the hair of two people who are meant to be together are united. The hairs blend and become one, this one is of your hair and the hair of your true love. I have one for Heather as well. Here, take it, use it to find your true love, and let MK break the spell." Mavis took the phial gingerly, tears welling up in her eyes as she glanced at Jack. She gave a little, teary nod, and left the room. Jack took the other three phials from MK so she could go to Jamie.

"Wh-what do I do?"

Jack gave her a reassuring smile, "You know." MK got closer to Jamie, his little body had tubes connecting him to the machines keeping an eye on his vital signs.

MK choked back a sob, "I love you, Jamie." She bent over, and kissed his forehead.


	22. Breaking the Spell

As MK's lips touched Jamie's forehead, a ring of rainbow-colored light burst from the touch and rippled through the town.

"Mom! You did it!" exclaimed Jamie, pulling MK into a hug.

"Yeah, I did, kid," MK smiled as she returned the hug. Everyone else stood still, their memories returning in a flash, while everyone who worked in the hospital changed. Dr. Lupei became paler, fangs protruding from his mouth, his nurses turned into old hags. Before long, there were werewolves, Frankenstein, an invisible man, a blob, some zombies, and a whitewashed Jack Frost.

"Wait a minute, are you Dracula?" MK asked Dr. Lupei when she noticed his changes.

"Uh, yes," replied Lupei, a definite accent now clear in his voice.

"You're kidding, right? Dracula's in charge of the hospital? Really? Who came up with this arrangement?"

Jack chuckled, putting up his hands, "Don't ask us, it wasn't our idea." Unseen by everyone else, his demeanor changed, he held up the two phials in his hand again and looked through them at Jamie. He let out a sharp, shaky gasp. Could it be?

"Hey, Jack, you alright?" Hiccup asked.

"Uh, yeah, I just, uh, have to get these phials back to my shop, if you don't mind." He handed Hiccup the three he had been holding and took off his jacket. He laid it on the floor, placing the four phials he had in his pockets in the center. He took the three back from Hiccup and placed them with the other four, finally taking the last four from Hiccup and adding them to the group. He pulled his jacket together, tying it up like a bundle, and tied it around his staff. "See ya at the ball!" He smiled and waved as he walked out the room.

"Wait, we're going to go ahead with that?"

Dracula shrugged, "Eh, why not? It is Halloween, and it is a tradition. It's probably already set up, the sun is setting."

"Wait, you remember your fake life in Cedar Grove?"

"Yes, I remember being Dracula and Dr. Lupei, it's rather strange though. I wouldn't suggest going around with memories of two different lives."

Hiccup let out a huff, "Wow, guess I'm lucky in that aspect."

"Well then, let's go!" exclaimed Jamie, pulling off the tubes and bouncing off the bed.

"Wait! I am still your doctor, I need to check you to make sure that you are perfectly fine." Jamie groaned as he plumped back into the bed. MK stayed in the room with them while Dracula took care of his doctorly routine, the rest of his department gone to finish up their duties, a bit unsure of how the rest of the patients were going to react to having a werewolf or a witch taking care of them.

After Dracula gave Jamie the all clear, Jamie gave a little whoop and left the hospital with MK and Hiccup.

"So, where to now?"

"Mom, shouldn't you get ready for the ball?"

MK sucked in a breath, "Sarah May!"

"Don't you mean Merida?" came Hiccup's and Jamie's chorus.

MK gave a slight chuckle, "More like I meant mom. But she wasn't in the lobby."

"Where would she be?"

"I think she's gone back to her apartment, she said she didn't want to go to the ball this year, though I did get her dress from Brown Bear of Norway."

"The red one with the bears?" MK nodded.

"Well, then, come on! She might have only gone to her apartment for a little while. When she remembered being Merida, she could have put the dress on and be going to the ball right now!"

MK shook her head, "It takes a bit longer than that to get into one of those dresses, and I think she might need some help. We'll check her apartment first before heading to the party house."

"But, how are we going to get there? It's like thirteen miles away. I can't walk that far!"

Hiccup grinned," How would you like your first ride on a dragon?" He pointed at the two dragons playing around in the parking lot where he and MK had left them.

Jamie gave him a huge grin, "This will be fun!" Hiccup led the way to the dragons, helping MK and Jamie get on Morrigan before mounting Toothless.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!" squealed Jamie.

Hiccup laughed, "Alright then, let's go! MK, you're going to have to lead the way, I don't know where Mer lives!"

"Don't worry, it's practically due south from here, and not that far. Come on!" Morrigan took to the skies, followed closely by Toothless. Jamie gave a loud whoop as the the two dragons soared over the clouds, the wind whistling all around them. MK glanced down a few times, making sure they didn't miss the apartment complex. "There it is!" MK pointed down at the brown building. The dragons circled down, easing their landing for the young rider. MK, Jamie, and Hiccup just about tumbled off the dragons' backs in their rush to get into the apartment building. MK led the way up to number 14, pausing at the door.

"Why is it open?" asked Jamie once he reached his mother's side.

"I don't know," shrugged MK, totally perplexed. Hiccup merely gave them a questioning glance before bursting into the tiny home.

"Mer! Merida!" he called out, but there was no reply. The three looked through the apartment, checking over each room three times. MK noticed the difference when she looked into her room.

"The dress is gone!" Hiccup and Jamie rushed in.

"What are you talking about?"

MK pointed to the bed, "I left both dresses out, the one with the bears was right here, and, and now it's gone! It's not even in the closet, I checked." An idea came to her, and she went into Merida's room. She picked up the green dress she had noticed laying there earlier.

"Oh, that's the dress she was wearing for her costume!" MK and Hiccup glanced at each other.

"Time to head to the party house, there's a princess we have to find."

"Yay! More dragon flying!" Jamie exclaimed before bounding out of the apartment. MK sighed and rolled her eyes before following the two out, making sure that the door was closed before following them down the stairs, her heart pounding with anticipation of her parents reunion. They took off to the skies again, this time, heading due west.


	23. Reunited

It wasn't hard to find Air 'N' Dale Party Hall, the place was lit up like a Christmas tree, with Halloween colored lights and decorations. Jamie noticed with delight that the snowman named Olaf wasn't in his usual place. He didn't get to explain why it was important since the dragons were landing. Hiccup really wasn't all that worried about it, nor was MK, though she figured she would find out soon enough. Like at the apartment complex, Hiccup just about tumbled off of Toothless in his desire to reach his wife. But it wouldn't have mattered how fast he went, he still would have had to wait in the line to get in. The line was moving relatively fast, but it wasn't fast enough for Hiccup. He stood there, shifting his weight from one foot to another, his fingers tapping his thigh with impatient anticipation for the sight and the touch of Merida. He barely heard Jamie explain to MK that Olaf was a living snowman who had an important role in Snow White and Rose Red, with the sisters Anna and Elsa. Jamie went on to explain that Anna was the head party planner of Air 'N' Dale, her sister handling the winter fun at Dream Lake. Finally, after about ten minutes, they were in. Hiccup's eyes strained for the head of red curls, looking this way and that. The three walked further into the ballroom, each looking around for the Scottish princess.

"There she is!" exclaimed Jamie, pointing out the mound of red curls tucked away in the far corner. Hiccup bolted towards her, weaving his way in and out of the crowd, MK and Jamie not too far behind. Being taller, Hiccup managed to outdistance them, reaching Merida's side very quickly.

"Mer?" When she didn't move, Hiccup began to worry, and to lose hope. He let out a sigh, there might be only one way to do this. Taking a deep breath, he began to sing, slowly, softly, "I-I'll swim and sail the savage seas, with . . . with ne'er a fear of drowning, and gladly ride the waves of life, if you, if you will marry me." He paused to reach out and caress her face, just like how his father did to his mother. "No scorching sun nor freezing cold will stop me on my journey, if you will promise me your heart, and love . . ." He paused again, trying to see her face, but she kept her back to him. He started to think it was all over when a voice reached his ears, singing softly.

"And love me for eternity." She turned and walked away from the corner, giving them room, before raising her arm. "My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me, but I've no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me."

Hiccup let out a laugh of relief before continuing, "But I will bring you rings of gold, and even sing you poetry."

"Oh dear."

"And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me."

Merida laughed as they danced, "I have no use for rings of gold, and I really don't like your poetry, I only want your hand to hold."

"I only want you near me."

They spun around as they sang together, "To love and kiss, to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming, through all my sorrows and all nights, I'll keep your love inside me. I'll swim and sail the savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning, and gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me!" Hiccup picked her up and spun around at the last sentence before placing her back on the floor. Merida, beaming, pulled him in for a nice, long kiss. They separated, and noticed the whole room had gone

quiet, everyone watching their little dance. A cheer went up as soon as they noticed, and Jack approached them, grinning, as always.

"Not bad, Master Chief, though I wouldn't suggest opera for you." Merida burst out laughing, Jamie and MK snickering.

"Ha ha, very funny. I'd like to see you try and sing."

"Well, make me as happy as you are, and I just might." Jack winked and walked away, going to join another group of people. Hiccup sighed and shook his head before wrapping Merida up in a great big bear hug. Throughout the whole thing, MK couldn't help but let her heart sing with her parents, without really knowing the words to the song. She was never happier than at that moment, finally reunited with her parents, and her son. There was just one piece missing, and once she had him, she would feel absolutely complete. But she glanced over at the pale form moving in and out of the crowd, she should go find his family, she had most of hers now, he didn't. As she was pulled into a group hug with Hiccup, Merida, and Jamie, her decision had been made. She would put off the search for her love so that she could find the family of Jack Frost. Little did she know that the paths connected.

Meanwhile, far below, and not far from where the dragons had been found, laid a girl with long, blonde hair. She moved in her sleep, tear stains being remade by the tears that fell from her closed lids. And for the first time in twenty-six years, she opened her mouth and whispered one word.

"Jack."


End file.
